Finding Our Destinies
by Amynic
Summary: It has been a well known fact that old habits die hard. Amy continues to chase Sonic, Sonic continues to run, and the others go about their normal routines. But how long can this routine continue to last as time flows by? What lies ahead for our beloved heroes when a blast from their FUTURE unfolds within their time?
1. Chapter 1

Well I told all of my viewers the news on my old story "One Miracle" that I may or may not continue that old piece, but i did indeed say that I will come back with some new material. My recent fanfiction to Final Fantasy XIII was Eternal Hearts, and I admit I am a little rusty as i came back to writing, but then again, that was a Final Fantasy story. Let's see what material I can come back with as I revisit Sonic the Hedgehog. Same rules apply: THREE reviews from THREE different people results in the next chapter being updated.

Alrighty then, lets see if I still got it. :)

* * *

Location: Base 0104

Year: Unknown

Silver and Blaze were running for their lives as large metal doors began to close down every room inside the base. The whole base was a minute and half away from self destructing. Silver possessed the yellow and light blue chaos emeralds in his hands as Blaze possessed the red and purple. They were surrounded by falling building parts and loud alarms going off and red lights flashing among every corner.

"Guys wait for me!" called out a third party member. Silver looked back as a purple hedgehog came running behind them. "I found another chaos emerald! Whoooaaa!" he tripped over a large metal piece of what used to belong to part of the wall.

"Oh come on we dont have time for this!" Blaze called out as she and Silver ran back to aid the hedgehog. Silver pulled him up. "Here," the hedgehog said. "I found it burried under some rubble." The building began to shake some more, and at that moment a large part of the ceiling began to collapse.

"Silver look out!" Blaze yelled as she pushed both him and the hedgehog out of the way. Silver looked up as the metal pieces of the roof became loose. "Alright come on we gotta get out of here."

They were running down the long hallway until they found themselves trapped at a dead end. Silver tried using his telekinesis to break down the door, but not even a dent could be made.

"We're stuck! What do we do?!" He asked. Blaze thought for a moment before looking at the chaos emeralds. "We use chaos control to get us out of here. Come on! All together!" Silver held up his emeralds with Blaze as did the purple hedgehog did so as well. They all shut their eyes.

"Chaos control!"

After a large flash of light, the three disappeared, and it was at that moment the base burst into flames and collapsed.

* * *

Location: Station Square

Year: 202X

The three found themselves on the street. The town seemed deserted and quiet. The sky was a dreary blue, a sign that a storm was on it's way. "Where are we?" Blaze asked as she brushed off her clothes. "I don't know." Silver said. "I think we traveled into the further future. But it couldn't have been far. The city doesn't look any different."

"Look!" the purple hedgehog said as he pointed to a window where several TV's were broadcasting a news update. The three ran to the window as they listened to what the reporter was saying.

"It is a tradgedy as to what has become of our beloved hero Sonic the Hedgehog. After the battle that took place at Base 0104, the base self destructed into a flame. As firetrucks, ambulences, police, and GUN arrived at the scene, they made a startling discovery as they found both Dr. Eggman and Sonic the Hedgehog terribly bruised up and burned. They were officially pronounced dead.

Officials searched for any survivors, but none were found. They found two more bodies burried under rubble. One was the body belonging to one member belonging to the Chaotix Detective Agency and identified as Espio the Chameleon. The second was belonging to a pink hedgehog identified as Amy Rose."

"No.." said the purple hedgehog under his breath. It was just then Knuckles was on the camera, wiping away a tear falling from his left eye.

"It's a terrible thing to happen. We've been in battle for so long and never faced any downfall to defeat. It's a harsh reality to face that although you have a hero protecting the people, it in no way means they are invincible." Tails was then put up on the screen. His eyes were red as if he had been crying a lot.

"Sonic was my best friend. We've been through everything together and now he's gone. Not even the power of the chaos emeralds could bring him back." The screen cut back to the reporter.

"Officials continued searching the area for the missing emeralds but only two have been recovered from the incident. The whereabouts of the remaining five are unknown. If you have any information about these emeralds you are asked to call Station Square police right away." she wiped away a falling tear.

"You never really know what you have until it's gone. May our heroes rest in peace. This is Scarlet Garcia reporting from Base 0104 without our heroes, from SSTV News."

The purple hedgehog fell to his knees as he held his head in fear. "This can't be happening." he said. Silver and Blaze stared at him, unable to find words to comfort him. The hedgehog got up and swung his fist at Silver, but Silver easily dodged it. "This is all your damn fault!" he yelled.

"My fault?! You were the one that ran away! I specfically told you to stay with Shadow and like the naive little child you are you disobeyed me! You are the real murderer not me!"

"SILVER!" Blaze yelled as she grabbed the crying purple hedgehog. "This is nobody's fault!" The hedgehog broke away from the cat's grasp. "I didn't even belong here. You guys forced me on this trip and look what happened..." Blaze kneeled down and put her arms around him.

"We needed you. You were the only one that could still do chaos control. If it wasn't for you being with us, our bodies would be there too. You and Silver had enough power to get us out of there. It was because of you that we managed to walk out of there with five chaos emeralds instead of four."

"What's gonna happen to me now? What am I gonna do from here?" he said sobbing. Blaze stood up and looked at the two hedgehogs.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," Silver looked at her, his arms crossed. "We're going back."

"The hell?" Silver said. "We are?" asked the hedgehog. Silver let out a chuckle. "So let me get this straight. We use time travel to stop a bad future from happening, and to fix it we are going to use more time travel? Blaze you can't be serious."

"The only way to fix the timeline is to stop this where it started. We have to try. We know how it ends. We need to go back and change the past or we're all doomed to suffer the same fate as Sonic. What's gonna happen when they find us Silver? Our only escape is to go back to the past and stop all of this from happening."

"Do you even hear yourself? If we travel back and mess up the timeline we face a greater chance of ceasing to exist!" Silver yelled. Blaze looked at the purple hedgehog before looking at the emeralds she held in her hands.

"Then that is a risk I am willing to take." She pulled the crying hedgehog to his feet.

"What?" Silver's eyes widened as his angry voice transitioned to a sad tone."But...but Blaze!" Blaze looked back at him. "I'm going with or without you. If we don't take this chance we will never escape our fate. This is our only option." Silver looked at the emeralds he possessed before letting out a sigh.

"Okay Blaze. For you and for him. I'll do it." He walked over to them. "Ready?" They both nodded their heads as they closed their eyes. All together they held the emeralds in the air.

"Chaos Control!" In a flash of light, they disappeared. They abandoned a future they failed to prevent, and traveled back to save themselves and their lost heroes.

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I didn't expect this to be long but I kind of got into it. Lol so three reviews says upload another one. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay i got four private messages from people asking for more, I will upload another part. But this time i want reviews for the next one. Instead of three, I'll cut it down to two, that way I know I have an audience other than just my friends. :P

* * *

Location: Green Hill

Year: 2014

"Sonic help me!" Amy cried as Eggman's robot squeezed her in it's hand. Eggman laughed. "Keep screaming my dear. Your Sonic is sure to come."

"Amy!" The two turned to find Sonic heading their way. Eggman smiled. "It's about time you showed up! Eggbot Fire!"

The robot held out it's hand as it fired several missiles towards the blue hedgehog. The blue blur grinned as he jumped onto each missile and jumped on top of the robot's arm where Amy was held captive. He stuck out his tongue as he mocked it, and it was then the robot used it's other arm and pounded it on the arm Sonic was on, causing both arms to break.

Sonic was in the air and he turned into a speeding ball of spikes as he tore right through the machine and caused it to explode. Eggman was sent flying in his eggmobile. "You heinous hedgehog!" he yelled before disappearing high in the air. Sonic chuckled.

"Nice try Eggman! I can't wait to play with your toys next time!" He turned around and held his hand out to Amy, whom had been on her knees after she fell. "You okay Amy?" he asked with a smile. He pulled her up to her feet as she brushed off her dress. She then put on an angry face.

"Why do you always do that?!" She yelled. Sonic had a sweatdrop form on the side of his head as he put his hands out in fear. "Do what?"

"You always just dive right into Eggman and I end up getting hurt or sent flying somewhere!" Sonic frowned as he looked at his feet. "Gosh...I'm sorry Amy. You know I never want to hurt you." Amy looked down as if she was about to cry.

"I don't get you Sonic. You tell me you care about me but I go to at least hug you and you end up running away. I'm convinced you just don't care at all." Tears began to flow from her eyes. Sonic stared, unsure of how to respond. He felt bad, but he was never good at responding to these kinds of situations with her.

"You run away from me, and then you abandon me! The only thing you haven't done is tell me you don't care about me! If you wanted me gone so bad you should've just said it!" She yelled as she sobbed.

"Amy..." Sonic never saw Amy react this way to him. He's witnessed her cry, but never in the sense of anger. It was then Amy just pushed him aside and ran away crying. He watched her as she fled from the scene. He sighed and just sat down, still watching her run off.

_"I've never seen Amy so upset at me. I go to save her expecting the old death hugs and then this happens. Aww Amy, I'm so sorry..."_

Back at Station Square in an ally way, a flash of light appeared as the purple hedgehog fell flat on his face. "Ouch!" He rubbed his head as he looked around. "Silver? Blaze?" He stood up as he brushed off his fur and his light brown combat boots. "I guess we got separated." He walked out of the ally way onto the sidewalk.

"I gotta find them. I don't know exactly what to do from here." He observed his surroundings. There were a lot of cars driving by and so many people walking on the sidewalks. He began walking before stopping in his tracks when he heard a man yelling, "Hot dogs! Come and get your hot dogs here!"

"Hot dogs?!" He ran over to the stand and pulled out some money. "I'll take two please! Do you have any chilli?" The man chuckled as he put two hot dogs on hot dog buns. "You betcha! Anything else?"

"Onions please!" The hedgehog said happily. The man handed him the hot dogs as the hedgehog nearly shoved one of them in his mouth. He walked away, his face covered with chilli and careless about the stares he was getting from people.

"Oh man these are amazing!" He shoved the second one in his mouth as he walked over to a trash can to throw away the napkins. He wiped his face off before pounding his chest to let out a large burp. He continued to walk down the street as he continued to observe.

"Everyone is so happy here. I can't remember a time in my life when people would just say hi to one another on the streets." He stopped when he heard someone sobbing just ahead of him. He quickly ran pass the people as he spotted a pink hedgehog sitting at a table with an umbrella over it.

"Oh no..." he said as he motioned over to her. He got on one knee as he poked her arm. Amy wiped her eyes before looking at him.

"Why so sad beautiful lady?" he asked. "Sonic?" she asked. The hedgehog was purple and resembled Sonic nearly with all features, except his quills were slightly lower on his head and his eyes were more of a jade green. He had bangs brushed to the side of his left eye. The sight kind of scared her.

"You...look like Sonic..." she said as she stared hard at him. "Who are you?" The hedgehog chuckled as he stood up.

"I'm sorry," he said with a grin. "My name is Chase. I couldn't help noticing you so sad. Do you wish to speak of what troubles such a beautiful lady like yourself?" Amy blushed, unsure of how to react. Chase pulled a seat beside her.

"Well...there is this guy named Sonic, and I love him so much but he always finds a way to hurt me, whether its being rough with Eggman as he holds me captive or simply just running away from me. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm tempted to just give up." she said, tears beginning to form again.

"No!" Chase said as he took her hand into his. "You love this Sonic don't you? Your heart belongs to him does it not? I'm sure he cares a lot about you. He's probably just afraid to say anything. Don't give up hope miss." Amy looked into his eyes. There was something about them that made her attracted to him in some funny way.

"Love will find a way. It always does. Does a heart's curves not part and meet at the end? They seperate through the curves and meet at it's corner, completing it's lovely shape. A flower cannot grow without a little rain. You may be sad, but the best has yet to come as the flower shall blossom and grow into something beautiful." Amy smiled.

"Wow," she said. "You really have a way with words." Chase smiled. "Believe me, I have learned from the best." He wiped away her last tear before standing up.

"Wait!" she said. "Please don't go..." Chase gave her a reassuring smile. It was exactly like the smiles Sonic would give her. "Don't worry, I won't leave you." Amy stood up and the two started walking together.

"By the way, my name is Amy, Amy Rose." she said. Chase grinned. "I know who you are." She looked at him rather confused. "How do you know?"

"Oh uh, you know. I've heard about you on the news before when Dr Eggman would capture you and Sonic would save you. I know how much you adore that Sonic of yours. I could tell just by looking at you. He's a lucky guy." Amy smiled as she walked beside Chase. She felt a lot better around him, and usually she only felt this way whenever she was around Sonic. But this wasn't Sonic. This was someone new.

"So where are you off to Chase? Do you have plans to go anywhere?" Chase scratched his head as he thought about it.

"Um..." he thought of the incident that took place from where he time traveled from, but he had already arrived in the past and found Amy. _"I guess just by finding her I can watch over her and protect her so she doesn't get into anymore trouble." _He thought. "No not really. Do you know some place you wanna go?"

"Twinkle Park isn't far from here. Have you ever been there?" Chase didn't answer. He remembered Twinkle Park as a child. He wasn't too grown up, as he was only a year and a half older than Amy. He looked at Amy before answering, "No, I haven't. Show me." Amy took his hand.

"Oh you'll love it! I've always wanted to go with Sonic, but since he's gone we can go together! You'll love it!"

"Wait what do you mean gone?...Whooaaa!" Amy began running as she held his hand, heading in the direction of the park. He wanted to make Amy happy as well as protect her, yet the incident from the future continued to repeat in his mind. He hoped that Amy's cheerfulness and smile could get his mind off of everything, but he also feared some of the good memories he had, especially when they were on their way to Twinkle Park.


	3. Chapter 3

Got my reviews. Here you go! ^-^

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Sonic was at Tails's workshop the whole time. Tails had been working on the X-Tornado, whereas Sonic sat on top of it's wing explaining to him what happened.

"And then she just ran away crying. I mean you'd think I'd get a thank you considering I save her all the time. I'm so used to her running towards me, not away from me. I never seen her so upset." Sonic explained. He looked down at the floor where the twin tailed orange fox had laid underneath the plane. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah yeah, can you hand me the wrench?" the fox asked. Sonic became aggrivated.

"Tails! This is serious!" He said as he handed him the wrench from his toolbox. Tails slid himself out from underneath the Tornado, smothered in dirt. "Well did you bother telling her how you feel maybe?" He asked. Sonic sighed.

"I felt so weak at the time, I wasn't able to find my words. I don't even know how I feel. All i know was that I felt like such a jerk to her. I'm supposed to be the hero, not the bad guy."

"Uh huh." Tails said as he continued his work.

"I never would've thought I would hurt her more than I would save her. I don't know what to tell her. She wants the truth and I don't even know what the truth is." Tails covered the part of the Tornado he was working on before pulling out from underneath and standing on his feet. He put his tools on a table and looked at Sonic.

"You want to know what I think Sonic?" He asked.

"What?"

"I think you do have romantic feelings for her." He said. Sonic blushed, but stood quiet as he listened to his twin tailed best friend. "I think all this time you really liked her, but shy'd out of ever saying so. I mean, come on now. I highly doubt that the full reason you like to run is to find joy in creating adventures. I honestly think the second reason to why you run away is because you can't find the words or the guts to face situations that don't involve physicality."

"That...that can't be it. If I can face life threatening battles with Eggman I certainly can face situations in telling someone how I feel.." Sonic said softly.

"So why don't you tell Amy, Sonic?!" Tails shouted. Sonic's eyes began to widen a bit. Tails never shouted out him before.

"I'm not an idiot Sonic. I know EXACTLY how you feel about her. Face it, you like her and you very well know it, but for some reason you refuse to face that reality. Why can't you face it Sonic? Why do you run away from her when it comes time to tell her the truth? You're never afraid to face a death battle but you shake in your shoes when it comes to telling someone how you feel."

"But Amy knows I care about her. If i didn't I would never consider her as my friend." Sonic said. For some reason, he felt like he was being ripped apart inside. He could feel a knot forming in his stomach and became uncomfortable.

"Does she know Sonic? Does she REALLY know that?" Sonic closed his eyes as he stood up and walked towards the door. "I need to go." He said.

"See? There you are, doing it again! You're afraid of your own feelings Sonic! If you don't say something soon you'll lose her forever don't you understand that? You have a girl that worships the ground you walk upon and you lead her on to believe that she stands a chance with you. That's not right Sonic, and you of all people know that." Sonic's eyes began to water, but he didn't let Tails see him cry.

"You came to me for advice Sonic. You had the incident of what happened at Green Hill and you continued to talk about how bad you felt and how you never saw Amy so hurt before. You talked about that the entire time I was working on the Tornado. That only means that you keep her on your mind Sonic. You DO think of her. You DO care about her. Face it Hero, you DO love her, but you are too afraid to face it."

"Shut up!" Sonic yelled as he threw open the door and ran away. Tails wasn't offended by his outburst. By Sonic telling him to shut up only proved Tails was right about the whole situation. He specialized in taking pieces apart and putting them back together, and he used his technique to his advantage to get Sonic to face reality.

_"Sonic, I'm sorry to have to hurt you this way, but you needed a hit to the head. You can't escape how you feel anymore. It is time to stop running away and face reality. Running and fighting has been your life, but now it is time to make room for the things that really matter. You're not getting any younger. You are fated to slow down either by finding love, or growing old by yourself, and I know for certain you wouldn't handle being alone. I rather see you happy than miserable. I know I broke you, but I did it for your own well being. It's time to face the situation we all have wanted you to face for so long: Tell her you love her."_


	4. Chapter 4

Since the last part was kind of short, I figured to upload another. One review is needed for part five. Enjoy. :p

* * *

Amy and Chase had just gotten off a rollercoaster. They were both laughing and having a great time.

"What a rush!" Chase said as he put his hand over his chest. "My heart is beating so fast right now." Amy giggled. They were walking by the food court. Amy let out a sigh as she smelled the fresh food in the air.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. Chase looked at her with a nod.

"Sure am." He said as he inhaled the scent of the food as well. "I hope they have chilli dogs here." Amy looked at him. The thought of chilli dogs only made her think of Sonic, but she refused to say anything in hopes Chase would change the subject.

The two went up to the clerk as they ordered the food they wanted. Amy had ordered a sandwich and a Chaos Soda, while Chase pigged out and ordered three chilli dogs topped with onions and a soda. After paying, they walked over to a table and began eating. Amy couldn't help but stare at the lack of control Chase had when he chowed down.

"You sure do love chilli dogs don't you?" She said with a half smile. Chase's mouth was full. He swallowed and sipped his soda before looking at her. He had some chilli on the side of his cheek.

"You bet. But these are nothing compared to the chilli dogs my mom makes. I love when I would come home on Chilli Dog Tuesday and she would have a whole plate of chilli dogs set on the table for me. Me and dad just go crazy." He took another sip of his chaos soda. Amy pointed out the chilli on his cheek.

"You got a little uh.." She took a napkin and softly cleaned his cheek for him. Chase didn't say anything. He felt almost as if his heart had skipped a beat when she did that. He cleared his throat as he broke away from her gaze.

"Sorry," he said. He threw away his plate and took his soda. Amy followed behind him as she threw away her sandwich wrapper. They both were quiet for about a minute or two as they walked side by side together. Although no words were said, a lot of thoughts ran into one another's minds.

_"He reminds me so much of Sonic,"_ Amy thought. _"He's so nice and doesn't mind my company. I wonder how he feels about me. I know we just met, but he called me beautiful and he doesn't run away. It's like he wants to be around me."_

_"I don't know if I can handle this," _Chase thought. _"I feel like this is taking a huge toll on me regardless if this was the right thing to do or not. We wanted to stop a bad future from happening, but I feel like I'm weakening, especially when I'm around her. I don't want to let my guard down but since the moment we arrived here I feel like that's all I've been doing. I want to protect her, but if this keeps up I'm only gonna lose her and there's nothing that I could do to fix it again." _Chase put his hands behind his back as he sighed.

"So," he said as he broke the silence. "Where do you wanna go next?" They were walking by the water park, which immediately caught Chase's attention. He nearly felt sick to his stomach at the sight of the lazy river.

"Why don't we rest a bit and ride some of the water rides next?" she suggested, but she had noticed Chase standing by the black metal fence by the lazy river. He was staring really hard at it.

"You wanna go on the lazy river?" She asked. Chase didn't say anything. He was experiencing a sense of deja vu as he closed his eyes and had a flashback of his childhood memory.

A little Chase, about six years old, was on a mini tube beside his father. The father smiled as he held the handle of the tube in which his son laid upon.

_"We can face it together little buddy. Don't leave daddy now, okay?" _ He said. Chase smiled.

_"I won't daddy!" He said in a babyish voice. _ There were slides on the lazy river as well as sprinklers and waterfalls. They shivered as they both went under one together but laughed as well.

_"You okay little buddy?" _His father asked as he smiled at his son. Chase nodded. _"Uh huh!" _He said. They were floating in their tubes side by side together until they floated over a large rush of water from beneath them that ended up seperating them. They were only one large slide away to the end of the ride.

_"Daddy!" _Chase called out as his father lost his grip. His dad had already gone down the slide and got off his tube. The water was about three feet high, so he was able to stand up.

_"Don't worry buddy, you'll be safe. Daddy's right here with mommy!"_ The little Chase made it to the slide, but as he went down and made a splash, the tube had flipped over, causing Chase to fall into the water and struggle. His father quickly ran to bring him back up as his son coughed. He held him tightly in his arms.

_"Chase! Chase little buddy you okay?" _He asked as he patted his son's back. Chase hugged his dad once he coughed up the water. He didn't know how to swim.

_"Daddy, I don't like the water..." _He said with his babyish voice. Chase's flashback ended, and at that moment he opened his eyes and continued to stare.

"Are you okay Chase?" Amy asked. Chase looked at her before nodding his head. He felt sick to his stomach, but chose to fight the feeling instead. He didn't want to ruin Amy's day anymore than what Sonic had already did.

"Yeah I'm fine," He told her. He let out a sigh and walked beside her again. They were heading in the direction towards the water park's "Atlantis" theme.

"I'm going to head to the surf shack to buy a bathing suit so we can go on the water rides and swim. By the time I'm done we shouldn't feel too sick when we hit the water. Is that okay?" Amy asked him. Chase nodded.

"Yeah. You go on ahead and I'll meet you by that temple over there. I need to rest my stomach for a bit." Amy smiled as she walked over to the store. Chase sat on top of a boulder beside the temple as he let out a deep sigh.

"Silver...Blaze...where are you guys? I don't know how much more of this I can handle. Please find me soon, please..." He put his hand over his chest. He felt pain within his heart and a tightness begin to form. He was breathing heavily as his flashbacks continued to haunt his brain.

About a couple minutes later, Amy came back wearing a simple red two piece bathing suit. She slightly blushed when she stood in front of Chase. "So uh...what do you think?" she asked. Chase felt awkward, unsure of how to answer.

"It um...looks great. So what do we do first?" He asked, hoping to get off the subject as quickly as he could. Amy thought for a moment before pointing at a large water slide that led to the Atlantis river.

"There! I heard that they have sea creatures in the water that you can swim with!" She said smiling.

"Wait what?" Before Chase could say another word, Amy took his hand and ran in the direction of the water slide. They climbed the stone steps towards the slide. Amy was first to go down, but the life guard made her wait until the person before her had swam away from the slide as part of their safety rules.

"Amy are you sure about this?" Chase asked nervously. Amy smiled when the life guard told her to go.

"Of course!" She pushed herself down as she said, "See you at the bottom!" Chase could feel his heart beat increase again. He gulped as he sat at the very top of the slide. He could see Amy swimming around at the bottom, motioning for him to go down.

"Go." The life guard told him, and at that moment, Chase pushed himself off as he screamed on the way down. He hit the water and opened his eyes as he saw fish swimming around. He struggled to get to the top for air and rushed to get out of the pool. When he pulled himself out, he continuously started coughing and shivering. He sat at the edge, holding his legs as he rested his head on his knees. Amy swam to him.

"What's wrong Chase?" she asked. "Are you afraid of fish?" Chase shook his head as he turned to look at her.

"No it's not the fish. It's the water." He told her. Amy frowned. Sonic also hated water and would never consider facing his fear of it. She put her hands on the edge as she rested her head on top of them, staring at Chase.

"Why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have made you come on the ride if you said anything." Chase wiped his left eye, preventing a tear to fall as he fought the urge to cry.

"I just want to make you happy Amy..." He said softly but sadly. Amy felt her heart rate increase, but it wasn't out of fear. She felt touched and almost as if she were loved. She pulled herself out of the water and hugged him.

"You do make me happy Chase. You've really changed my whole day around, and I'm glad we met." She closed her eyes as she hugged him.

_"To think I wasted all of my time chasing Sonic when he didn't even care about me when I could have opened my eyes and found someone else. Chase is so perfect and so sweet and sensitive. I think from now on I'm going to stick with him than Sonic. At least Chase shows affection and treats me right, whereas Sonic just hurts me all the time." _Amy pulled away as she looked at Chase.

"Come on," She said. "How about we enjoy the rest of our time at the park? I hate to see you struggle at the sight of the water." She pulled Chase to his feet as he nodded and said, "Okay." They walked away together towards the direction of the park.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright then. Let's try something else.

* * *

Location: Frog Forest

Year: 2014

"Gah!" Silver fell from the air and hit the swampy waters of the Frog Forest. "Ugh eww! Aww man this is gross!" He quickly swam to the end and walked out. He shook off the water and made an attempt to wipe off the dirt, but instead the dirt spread on his fur. He growled and used his telekinesis and threw a boulder at a tree and knocked it over. He was never good at controlling his anger.

"I was afraid of this," He said. "We got separated. Just my luck." He kicked a rock and walked through through the trees. You could hear the sounds of the flickies chirping and frogs croaking. It was humid and sticky as he walked on the trail.

"Ugh where do I find Blaze and Chase now?" He thought for a moment as he took out his chaos emeralds. "With any luck, they might be at Station Square looking for Sonic." He felt something jump on top of his head and saw a small green frog. He struggled to throw it off.

"Eww get off!" He yelled, but the frog sat there, not at all bothered by the shaking. Silver growled as he grabbed it and threw it somewhere in trees. All you could hear was a long croak fading away as the frog disappeared.

"Stupid frog." He mumbled as he fixed his fur and flew to the very top of the trees. "Well I guess it'll be easier to locate this place from the sky." And with that, he shot through the sky as fast as jet.

* * *

Location: Seaside Beach

Year: 2014

Blaze stood on the boardwalk as she looked up at the bright blue sky. The sun was shining and there were fluffy white clouds flowing by. She took the time to inhale the scent of the ocean and let out a sigh.

"It's so beautiful here," she said. She closed her eyes as she listened to the ocean waves and the sounds of dolphins from afar. She knew she had to find Silver and Chase, but she wanted to take away the stress by meditating. She sat down with her legs crossed and did so. She couldn't help but smile as she found her inner peace.

When she was finished meditating, she decided to take a walk along the shore, but being exposed to the sun made her rather sleepy, and it was then she laid herself on the sand and fell asleep.

* * *

Location: Station Square

Year: 2014

A few hours later the sun was beginning to set, and Amy and Chase had just left the park. They were laughing as they talked about all the things they did together. Chase had won her a teddy bear at a game of ring toss, and Amy bought him glowy sticks and made them into a necklace and three bracelets.

"I'm glad we spent some time together Chase," Amy said smiling as she held her teddy bear tightly to her chest. Chase chuckled.

"Me too," he told her. "We should do it again sometime, only this time no water rides." He was spinning one of his bracelets around his finger. He looked up at the sky and sighed. The sky was a mix of reds, oranges, and slight pinks and purples.

"It's a real nice sunset here isn't it?" He pointed out. Amy looked up and nodded before looking at Chase.

"It is," she said. "Would you like to watch it until it gets dark? I wont mind, unless you have somewhere to be." Chase thought for a moment.

"Actually," he said as he put his hand behind his head and scratched his ear. "I do have to go, but I first want to get you home safe and sound." He looked back at her. "I don't trust anyone during the night, and someone as pretty as you shouldn't wander back home all by herself with the amount of wackos that exist." Amy blushed. He was really protective.

"Okay," she said as she closed her eyes and smiled. They continued to walk through the city until they reached the lake in which Amy resided. It had gotten dark by then, and at the moment Chase was tucking Amy into bed.

"Goodnight Amy," he said with a small smile. Amy closed her eyes, but before Chase could leave, she held his hand with a soft grip.

"Thank you for today Chase. I had a wonderful time," she told him. She opened her eyes halfway and frowned a little. "Will I ever see you again?" Chase smiled.

"Believe me," he said. "You'll see me again soon." His tone indicated that he was hiding something, but Amy only took it as a good thing. She smiled and shut her eyes.

"Goodbye Chase," she said softly. "Be careful." Chase kneeled beside her bed as he put an arm around her to hug her. It was a bit of a tight hug, but it was very meaningful. Amy opened one eye as she had noticed Chase's mood suddenly changed. He looked like he was fighting the urge to cry again.

"Chase?" she asked. "Are you alright?" He kept his eyes shut and held her a bit longer. He pulled away after a few seconds had passed and stood up on his feet. "What's wrong Chase?" Amy asked.

"I..." Chase sighed before turning around and walking away. "I gotta go. Goodnight Amy."

"Chase!" Amy yelled, but Chase had turned out the light and closed her door and left. She felt like she was about to cry. "Oh Chase...please don't leave me...please..." she got up as she went downstairs to look for him, but by the time she opened her front door, he was already gone.

Chase had already been on the trail back to Station Square. He was walking beside the road, tears flowing from his eyes.

"Come on Chase, pull yourself together!" He said as he put his hands to his head and pressed it. He was panting and eventually fell on his knees and looked up at the full moon.

"Please God, please don't let me screw this up! I need your help! Please!" He began sobbing. "Don't leave me alone! Please help me find Blaze and Silver so we can fix this! Don't make me do this alone..." he looked down at the ground as his tears fell upon the road.

"I just want to protect her," he said softly. "I don't want to lose her..."

* * *

Sonic had escaped into the woods after he abandoned Tails. He had been walking along the trail as he tried to get his mind off things. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop thinking about what happened.

"He's wrong," Sonic said to himself. "I'm not afraid of reality. I face it evey day." He looked up at the stars that flooded the dark sky. He shut his eyes tightly as he stopped in his tracks. "I don't even know what I feel..." He fell on his knees as he fought the urge to cry. It was at that moment, a deep voice was heard from the trees.

"I never thought I'd see the day when the hero would stoop so low..."

"Huh?" Sonic looked up and looked around. "Whose there?" The voice chuckled rather deviously, but Sonic failed to find out where it was coming from. He stood to his feet and got angry.

"Where are you?! Who is that?!" He yelled as continued looking left from right. You could hear the rustling of leaves from the trees, indicating that the person was closing in on him.

"Come on out you coward!" Sonic challenged. You could hear the person chuckling deviously again.

"Coward huh?" It asked. "That's pretty funny coming from you." Sonic caught the figure jumping from tree to tree as it passed through the light of the moon, but he wasn't able to make out who it was. All that he could see was a shadowy figure.

It was at that moment Sonic looked up and saw the figure standing on one of the branches with it's arms crossed.

"Why don't you come down here and call me a coward to my face then? Come on! I dare ya!" Sonic challenged. The voice was heard laughing again.

"A dare?" it asked. "Sounds like you're asking to get a boot to the ass aren't you hedgehog?"

"Alright that's it I'm gonna-" Before Sonic could say another word, the shadowy figure had kicked him into a tree. Sonic fell to his knees after hitting his head before looking up as the figure made it's way over to him. His eyes widened as the moonlight revealed the figure's true identity.

"You!" Sonic said in shock, before being grabbed by his skin and held up against the tree. The figure laughed.

"For someone so fast, you're pretty slow..."

TBC

* * *

Ahhh cliff hangers. I enjoyed writing the fighting scene. If this doesnt get reviews by then, i guess i'm better off just deleting this and taking it else where.


	6. Chapter 6

I wont be active for a while so i decided to upload this.

* * *

Sonic opened an eye as he struggled to free himself. "Shadow what's the matter with you?!" He yelled. Shadow grinned as he dropped the hedgehog down on his knees. Sonic was coughing.

"What's the matter Sonic? Aren't you going to fight back?" Shadow teased as he kicked some dirt into Sonic's face. "Come on Sonic, get up and fight. This isn't a fantasy Sonic, this is reality. Can't you take a hit from it?" Sonic immediately tackled Shadow as the two rolled over throwing punches at one another.

"Shut up!" Sonic yelled as he tried hitting Shadow. "Who told you?! Tell me who told you! You know nothing!" Shadow threw him off and slammed him into a tree. Sonic was bruised and had wounds on his arms, legs, and head, some beginning to bleed.

"I don't need anyone to tell me that you live in a fantasy life Sonic when I very well was able to figure you out from day one." Shadow said as he closed in on him. He picked Sonic up by his head and hit his face to irritate him. "Is this a fantasy Sonic? Are you dreaming this? Come on Sonic. Wake up and face the reality right in front of you. Come on Sonic, get up and fight like the real hero you are."

"Stop it!" Sonic shoved Shadow before getting on his feet and throwing as many punches as he could. Shadow easily dodged every one as he smiled deviously at Sonic's attempts to hurt him.

"Is that the best you can do?" Shadow teased. "I'm sure you're faster than that. Where did all of your strength go Sonic? Surely if you find it soon enough you may stand a chance at hitting me."

Sonic screamed as he then tried kicking Shadow's face in. He had Shadow corned at a tree, but Shadow had jumped into the air. Sonic jumped as he made an attempt to kick him, but Shadow grabbed his ankles and threw him down to the ground. Shadow kneeled beside him as he grabbed Sonic's neck and choked him.

"Is this real enough for you Sonic? Come on hero, try escaping your reality now!" Sonic opened one eye before pinning Shadow on the ground. Shadow was a tad surprised, but not at all impressed. They met eye to eye, Sonic being angry and Shadow very well pleased.

"You don't know anything Shadow," Sonic said, his voice starting to go due to the way Shadow choked him. "I live in reality as I can very well face it."

"Then hit me Sonic," Shadow said as he escaped Sonic's grasp and back flipped himself in the air onto his feet. "I'm your reality Sonic. Come on and fight me. There's no escape for you now Sonic. Prove to me that you aren't as weak as you make yourself out to be. Find the guts to face reality!" Sonic stood up as he got into his fighting stance.

"You constantly under estimate me Shadow," Sonic said. "You don't for one second believe that I can take you down." He charged over as he gripped his fist and threw a punch to Shadow, but he missed as Shadow kicked him in the head.

"You expect me to believe that you can beat me with how pathetic your fighting skills are? You were never this weak before Sonic. I had faith in you to believe you can handle every challenge that you came to face, until I realized you lacked the guts in facing life's _real _battles." He went to kick Sonic's face in again, but Sonic grabbed his leg before he could and kicked Shadow into a tree. Shadow smiled as he stood up on his feet.

"Not bad, but it'll take a little more than that to impress me." he said. "Perhaps I should make this easier on you by kicking your ass with my hands tied behind my back. Or would that still be too hard for you to face? Would you like me blindfolded too?" His constant mocking towards Sonic only angered him more. As Sonic continued to fight, his fur transitioned from blue to a dark blue, indicating that he was losing all self control he had.

"Stop under estimating me Shadow," Sonic said grinding his teeth. "I'm warning you." Shadow laughed.

"I never thought you'd stoop so low Sonic. No wonder Amy left you."

Sonic screamed as he charged into Shadow and punched him several times in the face. He threw Shadow into the air as he jumped up, grabbed his ankles, got on top of his back and shot him straight into the ground.

Shadow sat up to rub his head, but the second he opened his eyes, Sonic grabbed him by his fur and continuously hit his head onto the ground. He put his hands over Shadow's neck and began choking him. He wasn't himself anymore. He became Dark Sonic.

Shadow struggled as he tried getting Sonic's hands off him. Shadow indeed choked him before, but he didnt put a hard grip as Sonic did.

"Let...go..." Shadow said as he tried to breathe and escape. Sonic lifted him upwards and choked Shadow and hit his head on the ground.

"You leave Amy out of this." Sonic said evilly. "You bring her into this again and I'll kill you." Shadow began to fade away, and it was then Sonic came back to his senses and let go and got off him. He fell onto his back and backed away, completely unaware of what his anger did to him.

"Shadow!" he said as looked at the badly beaten hedgehog. Shadow had wounds all over him and was bleeding through his mouth. Sonic crawled over as he tried to wake him up.

"Shadow, Shadow I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" he tried to shake him to see if he was awake. He leaned his head on his chest to check for a heartbeat. He took a deep breath, as his last option was CPR, but as he moved in, the black hedgehog awoke and pushed him away.

"Get away from me you crazy bastard!" He yelled. He started to cough as he managed to find the strength to sit up. Sonic was nearly to the point of crying.

"Shadow I am so sorry," he said. "I don't know what came over me." He put his hands on hid head as he began to panic. "What is WRONG with me?!"

"Take it easy..." Shadow told him as he saw Sonic freaking out. "I'm fine dammit. I'm fine." Sonic was still panting and shaking, a phase Shadow had never witnessed him do before.

"I'm a monster," Sonic said under his breath. "I hurt people..."

"Sonic..." Shadow said as he was rubbing his head, but Sonic continued to react.

"I hurt Amy..."

"Sonic..." Shadow said again.

"I almost killed Shadow...I'm evil!"

"SONIC!" Shadow grabbed the hedgehog and smacked him across the face. "Get ahold of yourself god dammit! Knock it off!" It was at that moment Sonic's eyes began to tear up.

"You are NOT evil, do you understand me?! Calm down!" He put his hands on Sonic's shoulders as he looked him straight in the eyes. "I started this fight on purpose to teach you a lesson. I know about the girl, and I very well know about what you are feeling." Sonic stayed silent as tears fell from his eyes.

"You think it was easy for me when I had to face the fact that Maria was gone forever? It was the toughest thing I could ever deal with! For Chrissakes I almost destroyed the damn planet because I believed avenging her would be the right thing to do, and in the end, I came to my senses and realized what she wanted me to do. I wanted so desperately to get revenge on what you people took away from me, but instead I faced reality that revenge would NEVER bring her back." Sonic noticed Shadow's eyes beginning to water, but Shadow did all he could to prevent a tear from falling.

"I was never able to escape my reality the way you managed to escape yours for so long. You don't realize how lucky you are, especially when you have someone willing to spend every second with you as much as she can, but you choose to run away from that and you take that for granted. The girl worships the ground you walk on, but when she goes in for a hug, you leave her in the dust. But at the end of the day, you know deep down you want her.

You love that girl Sonic. I know you do. But you take her for granted. You expect to be the hero and rescue her and get a big hug and a kiss, but when the results turned out differently, it bothered you. You need to learn how to appreciate what you have, because what's gonna happen when she's gone? Then what are you going to do? You are going to think about all the times you abandoned her and it is going to haunt you all of your damn life, and you can't do anything to take that back. Maybe she'll find someone new, or worse, she could suffer the same fate as Maria. That is NOT something you want to happen now is it?" Sonic shook his head.

"No..." he said as he began to cry more. Shadow sighed, his hands still on Sonic's shoulders.

"I don't want you to suffer the same way I did. All I have are a few good memories, but the thing that continues to haunt me today is the thought of seeing that GUN soldier shoot her in front of my eyes, and being sent away a second afterwards. I'm stuck all of my life constantly remembering that image, and I continue to ask myself what could have happened if I didn't let my guard down. I wonder all the time if I didn't take her for granted, that I could have spared her life. Sonic, you aren't getting any younger and neither is Amy. If you don't do something now, you are going to lose her forever, and you can't do anything to change that. It's time to stop running away from your own feelings. It's time to face reality and slow down for a change. You're a hero, not invincible." Sonic closed his eyes.

"But...I don't know how to tell her, and I don't know to choose between her and my freedom..." Sonic said softly.

"Your freedom? Sonic, you may be free but you aren't free to abandon all of life's challenges. Some things you need to accept. And how can you be so sure that she's just going to tie you down like that if you can't even find the guts to tell her how you feel?" Sonic didn't say anything, but he knew Shadow made a good point.

"You're fated to grow old and die. You are going to slow down eventually and there's nothing you can do to stop that. It's time for you to make some room in your life to spend the time that still remains being happy, and i think we both know what that means." Shadow told him.

"Tell Amy how I feel..." Sonic said softly.

"She won't stop you from being a hero, but if you tell her how you feel now, she will stay there with you the whole way. When you grow older, she will be there to make up the joy you had when you were young, simply by the love she gives you. She'll take care of you, and I'm sure we both agree that that's a lot better than being old and living alone."

"It is." Sonic said. He looked down for a moment before looking at Shadow. "Thanks Shadow."

"I didn't expect to go to the emergency room tonight," Shadow said with a half smile. "But I'm glad to have given you a good wake up call." Shadow stood up and held out his hand and helped Sonic to his feet. They both smiled at each other.

"Okay. I'll tell her tomorrow. I'll do it." Sonic said as he put his hand over a bruise on his left arm. "Need help getting back to the city?" Shadow shook his head.

"I'll be alright," Shadow said. "I think I'm gonna hang out here for a while."

"You sure?" Sonic asked him. Shadow nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Besides, I need to figure some things out for myself too. Good luck hedgehog." Sonic winked and gave his signature thumbs up.

"You too." And with that, Sonic sped off into the town. Shadow watched him run off, and once he was out of sight, he limped away onto a trail. He walked and walked until he found himself at the end of the forest. He found a large lake that had an island just ahead of it.

* * *

sorry i paused it here. i didnt finish writing the next scene. :(


	7. Chapter 7

Change of plans. I got my phone back on and we should be getting wifi, meaning more chapter uploads are coming your way. Thanks for the reviews, and for that I'll upload two parts today.

Well here it is continued right where we left off. :)

* * *

"What is this place?" He asked himself. He looked around for any sign of someone being there, but he couldn't see anyone. He then let out a sigh and sat down and set up a camp fire with the wood around him. Once that was done, he looked up at the full moon, losing himself in his thoughts, and closed his eyes.

"Maria..." he said to himself. He thought back to the time they talked about visiting Earth, the two staring out of the window from Space Colony Ark. He remembered them making plans to go and visit and smiled. He missed the sweet sound of her voice, and her warm hugs.

"You look terrible." said a voice. Shadow opened his eyes before seeing a white bat flying over to him. He groaned as his thoughts vanished.

"What do you want Rouge?" he asked as he rested his elbows on his knees and glared at her. She landed right beside him and put her hands on her hips.

"What's the matter? Didn't you miss me?" she asked charmingly.

"No." Shadow said annoyed. Rouge smiled as she sat next to him and put her arms around him.

"Oh come on," she said. "It's been a while since we've last met. Don't you miss the good times we spent together?" Shadow shoved his hand in her face and pushed her away.

"Get off me." he warned. "Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me the rest of the night?" Rouge looked up in thought before looking at him.

"Well," she said. "There's something that's been bugging me for a while. I feel like I've lost my touch." Shadow rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure your next 11 o clock appointment will surely find it." He said sarcastically. Rouge glared at him in anger before hitting him on the head.

"Gah! What's your problem god dammit?!" Shadow yelled.

"I don't like your attitude!" she hollered. "I only came looking for you because I needed your help, and you have been nothing but rude to me the second I got here!"

"So go away and leave me alone if you don't like it!" Shadow and Rouge met eye to eye, but Rouge sighed and backed away.

"What are you even talking to me for? What is it you want now? Haven't you been in enough trouble lately?" Shadow asked her.

"Shadow I've come to realize that I'm not the person I used to be. And i came to you to get help from you so I can find my place again. Nobody else is willing to help me out, and you're my only hope." She said frowning. Shadow sighed.

"Get to the point. What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"Come on now," Rouge said as she walked around him. "You remember the old me don't cha? The naughty ol' jewel thief as i was." Shadow sighed, but kept silent.

"Its been forever since I've last found any treasure. You see," she pulled out an old sheet of paper. "I recently found this map and I tracked the target to that island right over there." She pointed towards the island across the water. "It's a rather large area, but I didn't want to go in alone because I've never been there before. If you can come along with me we can split the treasure fifty fifty. So will you come with me?"

"I have no interest in your treasure," Shadow said to her. "The last thing I need is to be under the radar committing crimes for you. For all I know you're not looking for treasure at all. You're most likely setting me up for a robbery, and I for one don't want to be involved." Rouge flew next to him.

"Come on Shadow, don't you trust me?" she asked. "I'm telling you, this is a _real_ treasure map. It's all ours if you're willing to come along with me and find it. I promise I'll leave you alone once we do." She batted her eyes flirtstiously at him. He sighed, very well annoyed and not at all satisfied.

"Fine. But only because you'll finally disappear and I can get on with my life." He said as he walked away. Rouge smiled.

"Thank you," she said. She flew beside him as they stared at the island. He looked at her, and then at the water.

"You wanna tell me how you expect me to get across?" He asked. Rouge winked at him.

"I could fly us over, but only if you agree to dinner some time." Shadow just closed his eyes and walked straight into the water.

"No thanks I rather drown." He said, and finally began to swim across. Rouge crossed her arms as she glared at him, but she eventually shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh well, you can't blame a girl for trying." With that, she flew across the water to the island and met up with Shadow. A few minutes later Shadow made it onto the island. Rouge covered her nose as he came near.

"Ugh, you smell like a wet hedgehog." She said.

"Based on what I know about you and being dirty I consider that a compliment. Now let's go." Rouge's face turned red the more Shadow insulted her, but she forced herself to ignore it to the best of her ability and followed him on a trail.

* * *

Location: Seaside Beach

Year: 2014

"Miss? Are you okay?" Cream asked as she shook Blaze's body to wake her up. Blaze opened an eye and rubbed her head.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." When she managed to open both of her eyes, she immediately recognized Cream. Cream had been beside her mother and Cheese.

"You were quite passed out for a while weren't you dear?" Vanilla asked. "Do you have a place to stay for the night?" Blaze stared hard at the two rabbits before shaking her head.

"No...not really." She said. Cream helped pull her to her feet.

"Come back and stay with us Miss." Cream said smiling and holding her hand. "We can take good care of you." Vanilla nodded in agreement.

"Yes darling it's freezing out here." she said. "Might I ask your name?"

"B-Blaze." Cream looked up at her, still holding her hand as Cheese held Blaze's other one.

"That is a really nice name Miss Blaze. My name is Cream, and this is my little chao Cheese."

"Chao Chao!" Cheese said as he waved his little arm at her.

"And my name is Vanilla," Cream's mother added. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all too." Blaze said with a smile. She looked down at Cream and Cheese as they led her to their house that had been across the street from the beach. She couldn't help but find them adorable.

Once they entered the house, Vanilla insisted Blaze to take a seat on the couch as she went into the kitchen to make some tea. Cream and Cheese brought down a blanket and pillow and set up the couch for her.

"I hope you will be comfy here Blaze," Cream said with a smile. Blaze laid her head down onto the pillow and closed her eyes.

"It is very comfortable," she said. "Thank you." They sat on the couch across from her as they waited patiently for Vanilla. Eventually she came out with the tea and poured each of them a glass. Blaze sipped hers and let out a sigh of relief.

"This tea is wonderful Vanilla. I appreciate your hospitality for allowing me to stay here for the night." Blaze said smiling.

"Well of course dear," Vanilla said. "We saw you sleeping out there in the cold and it would be awful if we had just left you there. You were pretty tired to have fallen asleep there weren't you?" Blaze nodded.

"Where did you come from?" Cream asked. "Do you usually have a place to stay?"

"Uh, well..." Blaze thought for a moment. "I'm only in town for a short amount of time. I came here to help out a friend of mine, but we got seperated and I've been looking for him all over."

"Who may that be?" Vanilla asked.

"His name is Chase. He is a purple hedgehog with green eyes." Blaze answered.

"Oh dear," Vanilla said concerned. "Should we contact the police to find him if he's missing? It would be awful if something terrible had happened to him."

"No!" Blaze said nervously and loud. "I wouldn't worry so much about him. He knows how to take care of himself and he's probably busy with some work." Blaze hoped they wouldn't ask her anymore questions regarding him.

"Are you sure?" Cream asked. Blaze nodded. Cream and Vanilla looked at each other, and then back at Blaze.

"Well alright dear," Vanilla said as she, Cream, and Cheese sat up. "If you need us, we will be right upstairs. It's getting pretty late. Would you like me to leave a light on for you?" Blaze shook her head as she lied back down.

"No thank you." she said. Vanilla smiled as she switched off the lights.

"Sleep tight sweetie." Once Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese went upstairs, Blaze sighed as she stared at the full moon from a nearby window.

"Silver...Chase...where could you guys have gone?" She closed her eyes as she thought about Vanilla, Cream, and Cheese finding her on the beach. She then had a flashback to an old childhood memory.

A six year old Blaze had been escorted into a classroom full of children by a brown and cream colored rabbit.

_"Class, we have a new student here to join us," _she said. _"Everyone, this is Blaze. Say hello and make her feel welcome." _Everyone said hi to her, but Blaze being too shy, hid behind her rabbit teacher.

_"Oh sweetie don't be shy, go along now and make some friends." _She gave the kitten a little push, and Blaze walked over to a mutant rabbit and bumble bee.

_"Hi, I'm Honey the Bunnybee. The teacher is my mommy. What's your name?"_ Honey asked. Blaze covered her mouth with her paws.

_"I'm Blaze," _she said. Honey observed the lavander kitten as she noticed her shaking. Blaze hiccuped a flame, which instantly scared Honey.

_"What was that?"_ She asked. Blaze blushed.

_"I can't control my powers yet," _she said in a babyish voice. Honey frowned as she stood up.

_"You're weird,"_ she said. _"I thought you were a cat, not a dragon. Cats don't breathe fire."_

_"Oh..."_ Blaze looked down as her big hazel eyes began to water. Honey walked away with her dolls, leaving Blaze alone to play by herself. Blaze walked around the classroom as she observed all of the little kids around her, but no one invited her to join in on their activities.

_"Okay everyone, time for recess!"_ The rabbit said as she opened the door and let the children run out to the playground. Blaze covered her mouth with her paw as she walked outside. She first went to go on the swings, but by the time she made it there, they had all been taken. She went over to the merry-go-round, but nobody invited her to join them. She then looked at the jungle gym, but when she saw Honey playing with the other kids on it, she decided not to even try.

She watched as the kids played ball and watched as the kids would swing on the swings and play on the jungle gym, whereas she would sit by the fence and stare at the concrete ground.

A red foamed ball rolled over to her as a small white hedgehog came running over. Blaze looked up at him as she held the ball.

_"Sorry."_ He said in his own babyish voice. He couldn't help but notice her crying. _"Why are you sad?"_

_"Nobody likes me."_ She said as she wiped her eyes with her paw. The hedgehog smiled at her.

_"I like you,"_ he said, and held out the red foamed ball. _"Come on, let's play. My name is Silver."_

_"I'm Blaze."_ Silver held her hand as he pulled her up on her feet. He smiled as he looked into her big hazel eyes.

_"I can tell we are gonna be best friends,"_ Silver told her. Blaze smiled as Silver led her to the painted 4-Square court, and joined the game with two other kids.

Blaze smiled at the thought of when she first met Silver, indicating that she indeed missed his company. She turned over on the couch as she looked at a picture of Cream and Cheese that had been framed and stood on the coffee table.

"I can't believe I met my teacher when she was young." She said, before closing her eyes and drifting off into a peaceful slumber with a smile on her face.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the long wait. Here you go.

* * *

Once noon arrived, Blaze was awoken by the ringing of a doorbell. When she opemed her eyes, she saw Vanilla coming out of the kitchen in a bit of a hurry.

"Oh dear Blaze!" she said. "I apologize for waking you. I almost forgot about our company arriving at this hour for some lunch."

"That is quite alright Vanilla." Blaze said with a smile as she sat up and stretched. Vanilla answered the door where she found the Chaotix waiting for her. They were all smiling, but Vector was blushing at the sight of Vanilla.

"Hello gentlemen," Vanilla said as she moved out of the way for them to enter. "Please come on in. Lunch should be ready to serve in just a few minutes." She looked at the kitchen where she saw Cream getting the plates ready. "Cream dear, say hello to our guests." Cream came out of the kitchen with a big smile on her face.

"Hello Mr Vector!" she said as she hugged the shaking crocodile.

"It's been some time now hasn't it?" Vector asked as he hugged her back. He then looked up at Vanilla. "I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever." Espio facepalmed.

"Vector it's only been three days." He said. Vector glared at him as Vanilla giggled.

"We indeed did miss you though. I'm very pleased that you guys could join us." She said. Vector couldn't stop getting lost in her brown eyes.

"How...how could we ever pass up on visiting you guys?" He asked. Vanilla smiled as she motioned him to sit down.

"I'll be right out with your sandwiches." She looked over at Blaze. "Blaze dear would you like me to make you something else, or would you like a sandwich?"

"A sandwich is fine Vanilla. Thank you." Blaze answered. She looked over at Cream and Charmy as they hugged each other and walked into the kitchen together to help Vanilla with lunch. The sight of them made her smile.

"My teacher and her husband when they were young? I guess you can't get any cuter than that." She said under her breath before looking up at Vector and Espio. Vector was still shaking, badly enough to the point Espio looked over at him.

"You know this isn't the first time you've seen her." He said. "I would have thought maybe you'd be used to her by now."

"Is he okay?" Blaze asked. Espio smiled.

"He's in love with Vanilla and still can't control his anxiety around her." Vector glared at him.

"Shhh! Keep it down! She'll hear you!" He yelled. Espio crossed his arms.

"You're telling ME to keep it down when you're the one yelling?"

"I'm a detective you know, I can make your death look like an accident!"

"I'll believe that once you actually_solve_ a case." Blaze laughed as she watched the two argue. The boys looked at her as she did so.

"You guys are funny." She said. Vector put his hand behind his head and smiled.

"Well I'm glad you find us entertaining." He said. "I'm Vector, and this is my partner Espio."

"My name is Blaze. Pleased to meet you guys."

"Are you a friend of Cream's?" Espio asked her. Blaze scratched her head as she thought about what to say.

"I guess you can say that," she said. "They sorta found me on the beach last night. I guess I was so tired I just collapsed right there." Vanilla, Cream, Cheese, and Charmy came out with the sandwiches and served them out to everyone. Everyone sat down and ate, but Espio didn't abandon the conversation.

"So are you here alone?" He asked as he drank a glass of water. Vanilla looked at her.

"Oh yes dear I meant to ask you," she began. "Would you like us to help search for your friend? We won't mind." Blaze shook her head.

"That's quite alright Vanilla. I can find him on my own. Thank you."

"What's that?" Charmy asked, his face covered in mustard. "Your friend is missing? Sounds like a job for the Chaotix Detective Agency!"

"No, no. It's okay, really." Blaze said as her cheeks slightly turned pink. Charmy shrugged as he shoved his entire sub in his mouth.

"Geez Charmy where are your manners?!" Vector asked angrily. "When someone makes you food you are expected to taste, not inhale!" Vanilla giggled.

"My aren't you a hungry little bee? Would you like me to make you another sandwich?" She asked. Charmy nodded his head, in which Vanilla replied "Okay" and went into the kitchen. Vector shoved his arm, mentally telling Charmy that he was being rude.

"Why haven't you told her yet?" Blaze asked Vector. He looked down at the floor blushing.

"It's just something I never found the courage to do," He replied as he scratched his head. Espio looked over at him.

"Surely you can't keep hiding it forever." Espio told him. "It may be a pleasant time to finally ask her out on a date at least."

"Oh that would mean a lot to her Mr Vector!" Cream said happily as she clasped her hands. Vector looked over at her slightly confused.

"You mean it Cream?" he asked. "You wouldn't mind it at all?" Cream shook her head as she reached for Vector's hand.

"I very much enjoy making my mother happy, but I think it would be a great idea if she had a day out of the house. I trust you that you could keep her safe, and she very well enjoys your company." Cream's eyes grew bigger, in which sucked Vector into the cuteness bad enough that he wouldn't make an attempt to back out of the idea.

"Okay," he said. "I'll try asking her when she comes back." Everyone smiled and clapped, which only made Vector feel embarrassed some more, and although Vector agreed to do this, Espio was not fully impressed.

"I'll clap when I actually see you do this." He replied. At that moment, Blaze stood up and began folding her blankets.

"I have to get going," she said as she picked up her plate and cup and walked into the kitchen. She washed her dishes, feeling that it would be rude of her to walk out and not help Vanilla.

"You are leaving now dear?" Vanilla asked. "Are you going to be okay?" Blaze nodded as she turned the faucet off and looked at her.

"Yeah I'll be alright. Thank you so much for letting me stay the night and making me lunch." she said. "Where should I put the sheets?"

"Oh just leave them on the couch dear I will take care of it." She said. "Be careful out there." Blaze smiled.

"Thank you." Blaze then walked into the living room and said her goodbyes to Cream and the Chaotix. Espio seemed concerned, but he didn't go after her. When Blaze left, she headed towards the direction to the park a few blocks away.

She was pleased with how happy the people were and smiled at the sight of children running around and playing. Her smiles didn't last long once a newspaper was blown into her face by the wind. When she took the paper off her face, she became nervous.

"Oh no..." she said. "No...no...we made a mistake..." She looked around with the slightest hope that Chase or Silver were there, but of course they weren't.

"We traveled back too far..." She said. She turned around and ran back into the city. "We went back in time more than decade than when the incident first occured. If I don't find Chase and Silver soon, the timeline will be altered too much to the point we would destroy the future for good!"

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Hmm...didnt see that coming. Lol just kidding yes i did. I wrote it. :p


	9. Chapter 9

Writing this made me tear up a bit. Enjoy if still can. :'(

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Location: Green Hill

Year: 2014

Chase was sitting on the field as he looked up into the bright blue sky. He wasn't too happy being alone, especially when he thought of the countless wonders to the whereabouts of Silver and Blaze. He let out a sigh as he picked a sunflower from the grass.

"Oh Amy..." He said. "I'm so sorry." He wrapped his arms around his knees and began to cry. "I never should have left with them! I should've stayed at the base and made sure they got out safely! How could I be so stupid?!" He looked at the sunflower and threw it as he continued to sob. He stared out at the water for a while, and eventually wiped his tears away.

"Ah come on Chase..." he said. "Pull yourself together. You're supposed to be the hero now. Heroes don't cry." He stood up and wiped his eyes as he stared out at the water. Although he went to Green Hill to clear his head, it wasn't much help, especially when he realized that this was where it all began.

"Chase!"

"Huh?" Chase turned around as he spotted Amy running towards him. He wiped his face as quickly as he could. "Come on man pull yourself together..." He said under his breath before looking at Amy. Amy panted by the time she got to him.

"Amy? What are you doing here? How did you find me?" He asked as he put his hands on her shoulders. Amy looked up at him.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." She said, and then gave him a tight hug and started crying. "I was afraid I wouldn't see you again! You completely abandoned me last night and I got scared!" Chase hugged her back. He tried not to cry again and forced a smile.

"Amy I would never abandon you," he said, and pulled away and smiled at her. "You're my friend Amy. I could never leave you."

"So why did you walk out on me?" She asked as tears continued to fall from her eyes. Chase sighed and scratched his head.

"I just had to go clear my head. I was going to come see you again later." He said, but Amy didn't seem too convinced. She stayed quiet and looked down, in which Chase reacted and lifted her chin up.

"Amy," he said. "Don't cry anymore. I hate seeing you cry."

"I'm sorry," Amy said. "I can't help it..." She looked into Chase's eyes and nearly melt on the spot. She loved his eyes and the smile he always gave her. He wiped the falling tears off her cheeks.

"Come on Amy," he said. "No more crying. You're too pretty for that." He took her hand and pulled her alongside him as they started to walk. "I think you need some ice cream. I know it's your favorite." Amy let out a giggle as she smiled.

"How'd you know?" she asked. Chase thought for a moment before looking at her.

"Because it's sweet and makes people happy. Just like you." He thought to himself. _"Nice save." _Amy blushed and smiled at him.

"Thanks Chase," she said. "You always know what to say." They continued to walk until they reached the ice cream stand in Station Square. They both ordered the 'Chocolate Chip Sundae Supreme' and sat at a table and talked.

Down the street not far from them was Sonic at the flower store. He looked at a sign where there had been a sale on roses.

"Uh..." he said to himself. He scratched his head. He knew nothing about flowers. "I guess I should just get her a rose." He walked inside of the store as he looked around. There were numerous amounts of flowers in numerous amounts of colors. He started to shake as he looked at each set one by one.

"How hard can it be?" He looked at the section where all the roses were kept. There were many roses in different colors, something he wasn't expecting. He facepalmed.

"Geez how can I tell a girl how I feel if i can't even pick a stupid flower out?" He sighed as he studied them. He gave her a white one a while ago, but that was only because it grew outside of Amy's house and it was the closest thing he could find.

"I can't give her another white one," he said. "A pink one is too obvious. A yellow one is just ridiculous. And...really? Blue roses? Now this is just stupid!" He hit his head and sighed. A customer beside him couldn't help but stare.

"Why don't you just give her a red one bro?" he asked as he took six red roses. "Geez you make a huge deal out of picking flowers out. Just give a girl a flower and boom. Everything's fine. That's how I got out of sleeping in the yard again." Sonic looked at him, unsure of how to respond. He took a red rose and followed the guy into line.

"She kicked you out of the house for not buying her flowers?" he asked. The guy shook his head.

"Nope. She just said i paid more attention to basketball than I did to her." He took out his wallet. "What'd you do?"

"I guess I hurt her because I made her feel like I didn't like her," Sonic said as he scratched his head. The guy paid for his flowers.

"Well man, whenever you mess up, this store is your life saver." He took the bag from the cashier. "That, and chicks dig a wild night if you get what I mean. Make sure the neighbors know who you are, and you're guaranteed to sleep in the room for about a week." He winked, in which Sonic's cheeks turned completely pink.

"I don't think that applies to my situation..." He said as he paid for his roses. The guy laughed.

"Just some advice. Good luck bro. I gotta get these roses to her so she can tell me all the places around town where she hid my stuff. See ya!" Sonic's eyes widened as he took the rose and looked down. He was starting to sweat a little.

"Having a girlfriend doesn't seem all that exciting anymore." He said before letting out a sigh. "I sure hope Amy isn't like that." He walked outside and walked down the street.

"Okay Sonic. You can do this. Just tell her how you feel." A couple minutes later he caught sight of Amy. He felt his heart beat faster.

"Okay there she is. Be strong Sonic." He walked a little faster until he reached the ice cream stand, but his eyes widened when he saw Chase sitting beside her.

"What...?" He asked himself. His heart was not only beating so fast, but the pounding grew harder. He had a shortness of breath as he stared.

"Who is that guy?" He hid behind another table and observed. Chase and Amy threw away their dishes and walked together laughing. Sonic saw Chase holding her hand for a while, and his mouth dropped when he saw him put his arm around her.

"Amy..." he said to himself. He started to shake and put his hand over his chest. "I can't believe this..." He began sweating a lot more and looked at the rose. His eyes started to water, and without second thought, he grew angry, closed his eyes and threw the rose and ran away as fast as he could.

_"Shadow was right..."_ he thought as he started crying. _"If i didn't tell her soon, I'd lose her. How could this happen? Why did i wait so long to tell her the truth?! She's gone! Forever!" _ He thought of all the moments he had with Amy.

"Amy," he said sobbing. "I'm so sorry..."


	10. Chapter 10

I've waited so long for this part. Enjoy. :p

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Location: Silver Valley

Year: 2014

Chase and Amy spent the rest of the day at Silver Valley. Although the walk was far from the town, nether of them seemed to mind, especially Amy, whom had been giving Chase the 'dreamy eye' since the second they left Station Square.

The sun was nearing the time to which it would set, and the sky began to change colors. Amy had her arm locked with Chase's as he told her about his childhood memories.

"Mom and dad used to take me here all the time when I was little," he said. "We would have picnics here and dad and I would throw frisbees or play fight." He let out a sigh. "I miss it." Amy blushed.

"Well..." she began as she scratched her head. "Why don't we have a picnic here some time? We can have one tomorrow!" She made an attempt to look into Chase's eyes, but he avoided her gaze as he stared off into the sunset.

"I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be here Amy," he said, and eventually looked over at her. "I'm only in town for a short amount of time. I came here to help a few friends of mine out and then I was going to leave."

"What?..." Amy frowned. "But...you told me you would never leave me..." Chase could see her eyes starting to tear up, to which he sighed and hugged her tight.

"I won't abandon you," he assured her, and pulled away and smiled. "You'll see me later. I promise." He locked his pinky with hers and wiped off her tears. Amy's cheeks got pinker by the second.

"Come on Amy," he said. "I told you, no crying. You're too pretty for that."

"Oh Chase!" Amy pulled him in for a hug, but it was usually the type of hugs in which she would give Sonic, meaning Chase was unable to breathe. "You make me so happy! You're the greatest guy I ever met and I don't you to go away!"

"Lighten up Amy," Chase said as he patted her back. "It'll be okay. I pinky promised." Amy pulled away once she met Chase's gaze. It remained quiet for a moment before she slowly moved in to kiss him on the lips, but Chase immediately reacted and pushed her away.

"Amy!" He asked nervously. He started to sweat. "What...what are you doing?"

"I wanted to give you something to show you I like you too..." she said. She took his hand and made another attempt. Chase shook his head and fell on the grass as he backed away.

"Whoa there Amy! I think you misunderstood!" he said. "I like you, but-"

"You don't have to explain anymore Chase. I understand..." she kneeled as she moved closer towards him.

"Understand what?!" His eyes widened as he she neared and made another attempt. He pushed her away, this time with force and ran away. Amy quickly got up as she watched Chase run off. She noticed his speed was almost as fast as Sonic's.

"Chase!" She called out as tears began to flow from her eyes. She fell back on her knees and covered her face. She had once again, had her heart broken. She cried harder than she ever did before.

"Why doesn't anyone care about me?!" She asked sobbing. She laid down on the grass as she sobbed into her arms. Meanwhile, Chase was no different.

Chase eventually reached Station Square and slowed to a walking pace. He was shaking at the thoughts of what happened. His heartbeat was faster than usual, and he took a lot of short breaths.

"What's going on?" He asked himself as he looked down at the concrete. "What just happened?" He was so distracted by the incidents that occured, that he didn't realize Blaze was just ahead of him.

"Chase!" She called out as she ran over to him. "I've been looking for you and Silver forever! We need to talk, right away! There's been a-"

"I can't talk right now Blaze." Chase said as he wiped off his cheeks. Blaze didn't notice him crying until now.

"Chase? Chase what happened?" She asked, but Chase shook his head and walked away. She immediately followed behind him. "Chase what's going on? Don't walk away from me." She grabbed his hand and forced him to look at her, but Chase shoved her away.

"THIS IS WRONG!" He yelled. "Going back to the past from the very beginning was wrong and you people forced me into it!" He turned around. "I can't believe for one moment I even trusted you two! You guys ruined everything!"

"Chase knock it off!" Blaze yelled as she made an attempt to grab his hand again, but Chase easily dodged her grasp.

"Just leave me the hell alone!" He sped off, to which Blaze's eyes widened as she watched him do so.

"He gained super speed..." She said softly, but she shook her head and followed up behind him. Although she was mad, she refused to be left behind.

_"You are not going to disappear on me again hedgehog..."_

Within a few minutes later, Chase found himself sitting towards the edge of a cliff over by Green Hill. He finally stopped crying, but his mood did not change. He stared off into the sunset as he tried to control his emotions. What he didn't realize was that he wasn't alone. He heard the sound of a twig breaking, to which he reacted and turned around.

"Whose there?" He asked as he stood up and looked back at the trees behind him. A blue hedgehog stepped out, and Chase's eyes shot open.

"Sonic..." He said softly. Sonic and him finally met face to face, but the sight of Chase angered Sonic so much, he began to breathe heavily and he clutched his fists.

"You..." The blue hedgehog said angrily. Chase backed up a few steps as he noticed the anger in Sonic's eyes. He put his hands up in fear.

"Sonic..." he said. "Sonic what are you doing?..."

"I'm gonna kill you, you little bastard!" Sonic yelled as he tackled Chase to the ground. His fur transitioned to a dark blue as the two hedgehogs began a full on brawl. He hit Chase a few times in the face, but before he could hit him another time, Chase managed to escape from Sonic's grasp.

"Sonic please!" He cried. "I don't wanna fight you!" But Sonic didn't listen. He forcefully pushed Chase into a tree as he made another attempt to punch him in the face, but Chase being quick on his feet, once again managed to escape. He grabbed Sonic's arms from behind and tried holding them together.

"Sonic what did I do?!" He yelled in fear. "Why are you doing this?!" Sonic escaped from Chase's grasp and shoved him towards the cliff.

"You stole my girlfriend! You're dead!" He had Chase on the ground and repeatedly threw hits at him one by one. They were nearly inches away from the cliff. Chase had no where to escape this time, and trying to snap Sonic out of his dark phase was nearly impossible. It was at that moment, Sonic placed his hands around Chase's neck, and he used a tighter grip than he even used on Shadow. Chase struggled to free himself from his grip, but he wasn't strong enough.

"Sonic..." Chase managed to say as he struggled for air. His eyes were halfway open as his gaze met with the nearly possessed hedgehog.

"You're finished." Sonic said, before feeling a rush of flames thrown from behind him.

"SONIC NO!" Blaze screamed as she rushed to Chase's aid. She got in front of the blue hedghog, her paws in burning fists of fire. The flames brought back the blue color to his fur, but although he was no longer Dark Sonic, he was still angry.

"What the?" He looked at the flaming cat. "Who are you?!" He stood up. "Stay out of the way!" Unable to control the situation, Blaze had no other choice but to tell the truth.

"THIS IS YOUR SON!"

* * *

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 11

Haha yeah we all saw that coming. I never said I was a mystery writer. :P When it comes to Sonic fanfics I can never keep a secret. XD

* * *

Chase managed to sit up as he began coughing. He watched as Blaze and Sonic met face to face. He never heard Blaze scream in such fear, and although she saved him, he felt guilty.

"My son?" Sonic asked angrily before getting into his fighting stance. "I don't have a kid! You're crazy!" He moved in on Blaze, but although Blaze feared for Chase's life, she refused to back down.

"You moron!" She yelled. "We aren't from this point in time! We're travelers! We traveled through time to find you and help stop a bad future from happening!"

"Cut the crap!" Sonic told her. "I don't believe you. I don't know who you are but your fake story won't stop me from settling this!" He attempted to push Blaze aside and tackle Chase, but using her angry firey fists of fury, she hit Sonic back towards the trees.

"Blaze stop it!" Chase yelled out of fear. Blaze turned around and quickly rushed over to him. Her eyes had been watery.

"Chase you're hurt..." She said softly. The sight of the bruises made her feel pain within her own heart. "I'm so sorry Chase. I never meant for this to happen." She got up and made an attempt to pull the purple hedgehog to his feet, but Chase refused to stand.

"Come on," she said. "No more run-ins with anyone here. We are going to find Silver and we are going to do what our job was in the first place. This time you are not leaving my sight."

"You know I'm getting real sick of this!" Sonic yelled as he walked over towards the two in anger. "It's like all of sudden everyone completely decided to turn against me! I don't know who you guys are, but you're going to regret ever meeting me!" He put his fists up. Blaze got in front of Chase.

"That's really grown up, Sonic the Hedgehog!" She yelled sarcastically. "What has gotten into you?! How could you even think to hurt your own child?!"

"That's not my kid!" Sonic yelled. "I don't even have a girlfriend! The only person I had that was close to being my girlfriend was Amy, and that purple wannabe stole her from me!" He pointed at Chase.

"Dad..." Chase said. "I didn't steal Amy away from-"

"Moron!" Blaze said over Chase. "Why do you think we're here?! We traveled to stop a bad future and why do you think we set out looking for you two?! Don't you get it?! We came here to stop you from making a big mistake! We came to make sure you and Amy got together to spare your son's life!" Sonic's eyes widened.

"You're...you're lying..." Sonic said in disbelief as he slowly backed away. He began to shake as he stared at them. He then looked down at his hands. "No..." Chase managed to stand up and walked towards Sonic.

"Dad..." he said, but before he could say another word, Sonic screamed and fell to his knees crying.

"You guys are lying to me aren't you?!" Sonic asked as he looked up at Chase and Blaze. Blaze sighed.

"Sonic..." she said. "Look at him. How could we lie about who he is? He...he looks just like you..." Chase kneeled in front of Sonic. They met eye to eye, but this time, it had more of a deeper moment.

"Your eyes..." Sonic said softly. "They kinda remind me of-"

"Amy's?" Chase asked. "I know. I got the trait for them." Sonic observed him from every angle. The more he stared at Chase, the more his eyes watered.

"You...you really do look like me..." He said. "And you have...those...three bangs in the front...almost like Amy's." He paused for a moment. "So...you mean Amy is-"

"My mom?" Chase asked. "Yes." Sonic put his hands on his head and forced pressure to his skull.

"How could I do this?" He asked. "What is WRONG with me?" He looked back at Chase. "I...I'm so-"

"Dad. I'm not mad at you." Chase told him as he put his hand on Sonic's shoulder. "I understand why you're reacting the way you are. You've been running away from love for so long, you were never able to experience the different feelings that go along with it. And because of that, you can't control them, and you act out agressively. I'm here to help you." Sonic wiped his eyes.

"But I hurt my own flesh and blood..." he said. "That's not something I can just let go..." Chase smiled.

"To be honest Sonic I've experienced much worse," he said. "After all, I _am_ the son of the world's greatest hero. I'm the future of this world Sonic. I'm the next one in line to take your place." He touched Sonic's hand. "What you did was nothing compared to the play fights me and-"

"Chase," Blaze interupted. Chase and Sonic looked at her. "I'm glad to see you and Sonic having a moment, but you can't tell him everything you know about the future. We already altered the past enough as it is. We can't afford to mess up again or we'll cease to exist long enough to stop the incident."

"Oh right," Chase said as he scratched his head. "Sorry." He stood up and held his hand out to Sonic. He pulled Sonic to his feet and smiled. He thought for a moment before turning to Blaze. "You think I can handle the situation from here?"

"Alright," she said with her arms crossed. "But you need to be careful this time." Chase nodded and walked away beside Sonic into the woods. Sonic managed to stop crying, but his cheeks were still wet.

"So..." Sonic began. "Chase is it?" Chase nodded. Sonic looked over at him. "So where are you taking me?.."

"Where ever the wind takes us." Chase told him. He reached for Sonic's hand. Sonic couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

_"Sounds a lot like something I would say."_ He thought. He continued to observe the purple hedgehog, but as he did so, he felt Chase grip his hand and pull him a little harder as he walked ahead. It was at that moment they found themselves on a road, to which Chase began to run with Sonic in his grasp.

"Huh? Chase what are you-" Chase let go of Sonic and smiled. The look in his eyes sparked a sense of joy as Sonic sped up himself.

"You tryna' race me?" Sonic asked him. Chase shrugged.

"That all depends dad," he said, and sped off out of Sonic's sight. "If you run that slow, I don't consider it much of a race!" Sonic smiled.

"Okay then," he said as he caught up. They met side by side. They were headed towards a range of rocky mountains. Sonic looked over at Chase. "I'm 90 percent convinced you're my son, but I'll gain the other 10 percent if you can prove it through speed. I wanna see you beat me to the rail canyon!" Chase smirked.

"Alright," he said. "But first I wanna see you catch me!" Chase dashed further ahead, to which resulted to Sonic feeling a sense of joy. He grinned as he sped ahead, and the two constantly switched back and forth from first place and second.

_"He really is part of me."_ Sonic thought to himself. _"He has my looks, my super speed, I wonder what else he can do." _ The rail canyon was just ahead, to which Chase looked back at him and grinned. Sonic felt a sense of warmth, as if he could feel a strong connection with Chase. He then began to laugh.

"Dad?" Chase asked. "What's so funny?" Sonic looked up at him tackled him down a dirt hill. When they reached the bottom, they fell side by side and laughed together. Sonic laughed so much to where tears flowed from his eyes. He turned to look at the smiling purple hedgehog.

"That was pretty fun," He told him. Chase sat up and let out a sigh.

"Do you believe me now Sonic?" He asked. He pulled Sonic up off the ground. Sonic couldn't stop smiling.

"Yeah," he said. "I believe you now for sure." Chase pulled his hand and led the way ahead as they walked. "So now where are we going?" Chase didn't answer. He was too focused on leading the way. Sonic felt a strong sense of love in his heart the more he looked at Chase. It was a new type of love he felt at that moment, and it was only the beginning. The bond between father and son may have just began, but as the seconds went by, the bond grew stronger. Sonic smiled as he scratched his head.

_"He may be from the future, but if you ask me, I say this may be the start of a brand new beginning." _He looked up at the sky. _"Who could've thought me, Sonic the Hedgehog, would have a son? I mean, I know it's a possibility in the future, but I never would have expected it to happen to me. I guess maybe Tails was right, that eventually I will slow down. But...could time really have gone by so fast to where this day would come? _

_And Amy...I can't remember the last time I cared so much. I cared about her before, but now it's become more noticable. Chase was right. I have been running away from these feelings for so long, and I lack the knowledge to control my own thoughts and actions. I just hope whatever he's planning on doing with me that he can help me out, and I really hope it isn't too late for me and her. If it is, that means I won't see him again."_ Sonic sighed.

_"I really messed up haven't I? All these years I had so much time to fix things and I just ran away from them expecting that things would just fall into place. Makes you wonder doesn't it? How you can mess up so badly that someone in the future has to come back and help you fix it? You'd think as a hero that maybe I would know better, but I guess everyone has their own pace when learning something new, and what I learned the moment Amy turned on me, is that you can't run away from your problems. It's okay to have time to think them over, but by the time you realize the worth in them, it can sometimes be too late."_ He looked at his hand that Chase held.

_"Maybe it's not too late for me yet. If this guy came from the future and remains here, maybe there is a chance to fix this after all. If there is, then I can't waste anymore time. I need to fix things up with Amy, or I'll lose both her, and Chase forever..."_


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the late upload every. Don't worry, I didn't forget. I recently bought Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and I haven't stopped playing it. Lol

But here you guys are. I'll upload some more soon. In fact, since I'm using up my time with Lightning Returns and making late uploads, this may be a good time for me to ask for reviews and opinions, just to make sure you guys didn't disappear. :p

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Location: Deep Woods

Year: 2014

Rouge popped up out of a pile of gems. They found the temple she was talking about, which had numerous amounts of gems laying around.

"These are lovely!" She said as she held a ruby and a blue topaz. Her eyes widened when she saw a gold crown. She reached for the gold crown and put it on top of her head. "Look Shadow! I'm a Queen!" Shadow had his arms crossed and he had his back turned towards her the whole time.

"Congratulations," he said. "You are **officially** a royal pain in my ass." Rouge glared at him.

"If you're going to be so mean to me then why don't you just go back to that stupid lake and go feel sorry for yourself?" Shadow turned around and pulled her by the pink heart of her shirt.

"If you expect to make it out of here without a single scratch," he began. "Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut." His red eyes made Rouge shiver, and she nodded without saying a word. Shadow let go of her and walked away from the scene. She flew out of the pile of gems and circled the old temple.

"Well if he wont get into the spirit of things, I guess I won't let this get me down. I'll just keep the gems all to myself." She kept an eye out as she circled the building.

"There must be a door somewhere around here. If the gems out here are gorgeous, I can only imagine what's hiding on the inside." She spotted the door and flew down towards it. She made an attempt to push, but the doors wouldn't open. She then tried pulling them, but they still wouldn't budge.

"Ugh! There's gotta be some way to get inside!" She then started kicking the door repeatedly, then flying away and kicking it from afar, but nothing worked. She started panting before realizing there had been a keyhole.

"Joy," she said. "Looks like I need to find the key." She turned around and walked down the steps and searched in each pile of gems. She did this for about an hour before sighing and wiping her forehead.

"Yeash there's no key anywhere. How am I supposed to find that?" She pulled out the map and studied it.

"There aren't any markings that indicate anything about a key. In fact, based on my research I did on this place, the temple should be completely accessable. Could my research have been wrong?"

Suddenly, there was a loud rustling noise and creaking noise. Rouge turned around only to watch the doors open all on their own. She was frightened, but she didn't let that stop her from running inside. She looked around, but she didn't see anyone.

"The last thing I need is for ghosts to start popping out at me. I better just take my treasure and get out of here." She flew up ahead and saw a golden glow. The glow got brighter the more she flew towards it, and when she reached it to find the source, her eyes sparkled when she saw merely a pool of shiny gems and gold.

"Is this real life or am I in heaven?" She asked herself as she dove into the pool of gems. She picked up a few and put them inside a bag. As she did this, she looked up for just a moment and saw something odd. The walls had engravings of what looked like echidnas. There were graphics and words written in a language Rouge couldn't make out, but she didn't bother to pay attention to it too long. Once she got her bag full, she flew out of the pool towards the walls.

"These hyrogliphics remind me of old Knucky." She said. "But I wonder why they're here? My research didn't go into full detail about this place other than the fact it was marked on my treasure map. I guess maybe I should do better research next time instead of focusing on treasure, but can you blame a gal?" Rouge kept walking as she observed the writings. She heard the sound of pebbles falling from the ceiling.

"This place sounds like it's going to crumble any moment now. Better get out of here." When she took her first step, a white bat landed in front of her that made her scream. The bat looked like her, but she grew a bit of hair between her ears, and she wore a black suit as if she was a robber.

"You look like me..." Rouge said as she observed her. The white bat pointed to Rouge's bag.

"Let me guess," she began. "You were going to steal those weren't you?" Rouge slightly blushed, but she was more freaked out than embarrassed.

"No. Yes. Maybe. Why?" The bat sighed.

"Ugh what was I even thinking?" she asked herself. Rouge became angry.

"Alright, I don't know who you are but you're not having any of my treasure!" She spread her wings and flew off, but the bat followed behind her and grabbed her boot and threw her down on the ground and stood above her.

"Well that's rude! Who do you think you are?" Rouge asked as she rubbed her head. The white bat bent over to her face.

"Can't you tell? Surely you're more intelligent than that." Rouge glared at her.

"You're a fake, that's what you are." She said as she sat up. The bat shook her head.

"Surely Rouge, I am no fake. I'm as real as can be. Guess again." Rouge scratched her head.

"How did you know my name?" she asked. She was startled at this point. The bat got close to her face and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Because," she began. "I am you, from the future."


	13. Chapter 13

Jeez all I needed was a review. But i'm not letting my favorite piece going to waste. So here.

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"No way!" Rouge yelled. "I don't believe you! Prove it!" Future Rouge sighed as she pulled out a piece of paper with her face on it. It was a "wanted" sign. Rouge looked at it before looking at her.

"You are me," she said. "But why are you wanted by the police? What did you do?" Future Rouge looked at the bag of gems Rouge had beside her. She stood up and closed her eyes.

"What you do," she said. She looked at her. "At this point in time after I discovered this temple, I began to feel the need to start stealing again. I couldn't help myself. The more gems and jewelry I stole, the more I became addicted. And that's not the worst part..."

"What's the worst part?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge looked at her.

"I joined up with a group of bandits and together we robbed numerous of stores, banks, even stole from places like this. We took so much that didn't belong to us, and we became wanted by the entire world. Not just Station Square. The whole world." She turned around to face her.

"All of this happened because I came to this very place alongside Shadow because I felt like I lost part of who I was. But once I began stealing again, I became addicted to it, and I got myself into so much trouble with not only the world itself, but the action eventually sabotoged somebody else's future."

"Who are these bandits? And who's future did you sabotoge?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge leaned against a stone pillar.

"I joined forces with the Babylon Rogues, and the future I ruined was Knuckles's." She sighed. "It was because of me he doesn't have anybody anymore. The future in which I come from he's growing old and lives on that same silly island he's always been at, guarding that large emerald from people that try to steal it." Rouge scratched the back of her ear.

"But isn't the future made of many possibilities?" she asked. Future Rouge looked at her.

"It is, but I'm afraid every action you take leads you to create a different outcome. With the actions I took, it destroyed nearly most of any possible good things for our future, and it was bad enough that I ruined somebody else's along with it."

"By any chance do you know what Knuckles's future is supposed to be like? How did you ruin it?"

"I can't tell you that. I can't take the risk in going back in time just to ruin the future some more. I came here to stop you." She stood up normally. "You need to return those gems back where they belong. They are not yours Rouge." Rouge stood up and put her hands on her hips. She held the bag of gems in her hand.

"No way! I'll be way more careful than you ever were. I don't need to worry gorgeous. I'll just make sure I never get caught."

"You're not listening to me!" Future Rouge yelled. "You're going to ruin your life! You're going to ruin Knuckles's as well! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

"Who cares about him anyway. After all the mistreatment he's shown me over the years he very well deserves to be alone. He acts as though he wants to be, so I don't see the need not to give him what he wants. Besides, how's stealing some valuable precious gems ruining _his_ life anyway?"

"Because this temple is where he is going to find his destiny! This is where all of his questions about his clan and his past are going to be answered! His family is here!" Future Rouge gasped and put her hands over her own mouth. Rouge glanced at her.

"So his family is still alive? He's not the only one? Well why didn't you just say so? Let's go and tell him!" Before Rouge could take off, Future Rouge slammed her against the wall.

"Why are you so hard-headed?! You are not to mention this to anybody do you understand me?! I came here to change our life and save somebody else's. You are going to listen to me because I guarantee if the both of us cease to exist, it will not change anything!"

"You wouldn't kill me. You'll die along with me. Why would I attempt suicide?" Rouge asked as she looked into her future self's raging eyes.

"Because after the awful life I have lived years from now I completely regret everything I did and all the people I have lost. Either you change or we die. Ether way I'll be doing everyone a favor. You act like you don't care and that nothing people say about you or do to you hurt, but deep inside that sassiness in your heart it kills you. You feel your heart breaking each and every time for it, and you act out by being a thief because it makes you feel wanted even in the wrong ways.

You take a large interest in gems because everyone is attracted to their value and beauty. You want to be able to feel beautiful and wanted by everyone just as diamonds or emeralds or rubies are. But stealing got you in so much trouble in the future, and now you are the most hated person on the planet. You thought it was bad when Knuckles or Shadow hurt your feelings because they weren't interested in your company. Try having a whole planet of people that want you dead." Both of the Rouges' eyes were watering. Future Rouge let her younger self go as she wiped her face of the tears. Rouge fell to the ground and started crying into her knees.

"I am such an idiot! How could I be so stupid?" Her sobbing made her blue eyeshadow run. Future Rouge sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her younger self.

"It hurts a lot. I know..." Future Rouge said as her eyes watered again. Rouge continued sobbing.

"Why doesn't anyone like me? Why do they hate me so much? What did I do wrong?" Future Rouge closed her eyes as she leaned her head on Rouge's shoulder.

"I don't know..." They both continued to cry together, completely unaware that someone had been watching them from the shadows. The minutes had gone by, but the scene of the two white bats didn't change. Rouge wiped her eyes, her gloves dirty with eyeshadow and mascara.

"I won't take the gems," she said. "I want to be a different person. I want a good future. But where do I start? Do you know?" Future Rouge smiled.

"Well, there are two possibilities that might do us some good that I know of. But being as though I hurt you, I feel as if it is only right that I guide you to do those things." Future Rouge told her.

"I'd like that," Rouge said with a small smile. "I'm probably my only best friend I even have." Future Rouge giggled as she stood up and held out her hand to pull Rouge to her feet.

"Come on beautiful," she said. "Before we go do anything, we ought to go to your place and touch up your make up. I don't want myself going out looking like that." Rouge smiled, but before she took a step forward, she looked at the bag of jewels she had. She picked the bag up off the floor and threw them as hard as she could where the large pile of gems were.

Once that was done, the two bats started laughing and flew out of the temple into the sky. Future Rouge stopped for a second before moving forward with her younger self.

"Hey aren't ya coming?" Rouge asked. Future Rouge nodded.

"Yeah I'm right behind you! Keep going! I gotta do something real quick!" When Rouge was out of sight, Future Rouge landed on the ground and looked up in the trees. She spotted a figure leaning against a tree on a branch.

"It's done," she said. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"Hmph, you should be. Thanks to you I almost didn't exist." It said in a sassy voice. Future Rouge sighed.

"Well I fixed up everything and now you can set out to fix your part of the future. I get it that I messed up before. Please don't make me feel anymore terrible than I already do."

"Did your crumby self return those jewels?" The figure asked. Future Rouge nodded. "Good. Thanks for the help. And good luck ya old bat. Ha ha!" The moonlight that peeked through the leaves revealed a pair of blue eyes, one of them winking at Future Rouge before jumping down and walking away.

"I'm not that old. You're just like Knuckles and Shadow. Always picking on me." Future Rouge said, only she knew that this person never intended to hurt anyone.

"I'll take that as a compliment Rouge. Now get going. I'll see you soon enough." Future Rouge took off, and the figure vanished into the darkness in the trees.

_"Now to find Mystic Ruin. Angel Island shouldn't be far."_


	14. Chapter 14

Here's another piece. Hmm...this isn't looking too good.

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Deeper into the woods, Amy was walking along a trail, still sobbing from earlier. She didn't have any idea how far she walked, but even with a trail, she still had no clue where she was. Every turn on the trail only led her to the same place, bringing fear to the poor pink hedgehog.

"I couldn't find true love and now I can't find a way out of here!" She complained, her eyes still watery but now slightly red. She stopped walking and fell to her knees. She was cold and started shivering.

"This was a huge mistake," she said. "I should have just went home. I don't know why I made an attempt to run off. Now I'm gonna starve here or maybe be eaten by a bear or something." It was then she heard noises from the trees, which instantly silenced her sobs. Her heart nearly stopped, unsure of what was coming up behind her. She was scared to turn around, but being as though she was lost and there was no sign of her hero Sonic, she figured what else did she have to lose?

She turned around slowly as a shadowy black mass closed in on her. Her eyes widened in fear as she backed away into a tree and panted heavily. When the figure became clear, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Quiet! Stop screaming!"

"Eggman what do you want?!" Amy yelled as she continued crying. Eggman scratched his head.

"First off I'd like to know why you are in the woods to begin with. I didn't expect to run into you." He then got angry and turned on a flashlight from his Eggmobile. "Is that pesky hedgehog here too?!"

"He's not here Eggman!" Amy said sobbing. Eggman looked at her.

"Why are you blubbering? I haven't even done anything to you yet!" He yelled.

"Because I hate guys! Sonic is the absolute worst! All he ever did was break my heart and I was stupid enough to go after him!" Eggman looked rather confused. He wasn't sure how to feel let alone respond.

"Well this isn't at all what I was expecting," he said, but then he changed his tone and got angry. "But you can't tell me that you didn't see that one coming! I mean what did you expect? He's stubborn, selfish, greedy, and doesn't care at all how badly he hurts others! Even after our battles I've never had one visit to the hospitol from that pesky hedgehog! Not once!"

"He doesn't even consider the fact of not hurting me when you kidnap me! He completely ignores the fact I am there!" Amy complained. Eggman crossed his arms.

"What makes you think that would change after each time it's happened? Sonic NEVER gave a damn about you! All he intends to do is ruin MY life and he doesn't care about how that affects his friends! I'm all that Sonic wants. All you and the rest of your friends were, were just backup, and even then he still doesn't need any of you to get what he wants." Eggman's words only ripped Amy apart some more, but they also made her angry.

"Oh how I HATE that hedgehog! Oh I swear when I get out of here I'm gonna make him pay for what he's done to me!" Amy yelled. Eggman's eyes widened, and he began to form an idea.

"So you want to get even with Sonic do you?" He asked her. She nodded.

"You bet. He's gonna wish he was never born when I get my hands on him. That stupid jerk! Oh he's gonna suffer for what he's done to me!" Eggman grinned and chuckled rather evilly.

"If you want to get even with Sonic, I think he wont stand a chance if we work together. I can make you stronger and more powerful, but that's only if you mean your own words." Amy stood up.

"Why would I trust you for?! All you have ever done was kidnap me! How do I know this isn't some trick?!" She asked.

"Because you wouldn't stand a chance against Sonic, let alone keep up with him. I can give you those abilities, but only if you promise to do something for me."

"Oh yeah and what's that?" Amy asked.

"Oh nothing too difficult. In fact I'm afraid I don't even have much of an idea. But I would very much like to help you out. What do you say Miss Rose? Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand. Amy thought for a moment.

And she shook his hand.

"Great. Climb aboard. We don't want to waste time. We'll make sure Sonic pays for the pain he's made us suffer with." Amy sat on one of the wings of the Eggmobile, and just like that, they took off into the sky. All it took was a major heartbreak to prevent her from thinking clearly, and this time, she didn't need to get kidnapped to take off with the enemy of her once beloved hero.

A few hours later, Amy had been locked down to a steel platform. Eggman had been typing on his computer and grinning evilly. Amy was scared.

"Um...are you sure this is going to make me stronger?" she asked. "This is very uncomfortable." Eggman chuckled.

"Patience my dear," he said. "You'll be free real soon. I am just setting up and calculating blueprints to make you merely invincible!" He stood up and walked over to her. He pulled out a helmet from underneath the platform and carefully placed it on her head. It had numerous amounts of wires attached to it.

"What's this thing?" she asked. She felt the helmet lock onto her skull, to which led her to say "Ow!".

"Don't worry," Eggman said as he pushed one of the buttons on the helmet. "It will do no harm. In fact, it'll make it much easier for me to work on your new transformation. Now you relax while I activate the machine." He walked back over to his computer. Amy could feel her heart rate increase.

"Eggman maybe this was a bad idea. I don't wanna go through with it. Just let me go. Please?" Eggman started laughing. That only signaled one thought to Amy.

"You're pathetic," he said. "You really thought I was going to risk doing you a favor and setting you free? Surely you couldn't have been that blind! Now you're all mine to do my dirty work."

"You tricked me!" Amy yelled. The machine began to power up and charge.

"I wouldn't say tricked Amy. You will get even with Sonic just as you had wished. But the catch is that I will make sure that you obey all of MY orders. A deal is a deal Miss Rose!" Eggman laughed evilly as an electric charge from the helmet zapped Amy.

"SONIC! CHASE! SOMEBODY! HEEEEEELP!" She screamed, but she started to fade away and eventually blacked out.


	15. Chapter 15

Finally some Knuckles! Enjoy! :D

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Location: Angel Island

Year: 2014

It was early in the morning as the sun rose into the clear blue sky. Angel Island was empty, yet still beautiful. You could hear the sounds of the birds chirping and smell the morning dew from the bright green grass.

Knuckles was still awake, standing in the same position as you always found him. He stood there guarding the Master Emerald with a blank face, but his mind was full of countless wonders.

_"I haven't slept in weeks,"_ he thought to himself. _"I haven't been so tired in my life."_ He opened his eyes as he stared out to the field. He had his arms crossed.

"Is this really all that I was meant to do? Stand in front of the Master Emerald and guard it from harm or abuse of power? I understand that this is part of my destiny, but there is so much more to me than this." He sat down on the ruined stone steps. He let out a sigh.

"Maybe...maybe I can do something. I can still guard the Master Emerald but I don't have to stand around here all day doing so. I can still do things." He looked down at the stone steps to which gave him an idea.

"That's what I'll do," he said. "I'm going to rebuild all of what was lost from Angel Island." He stood up and immediately got to work. He took the Master Emerald with him as he gathered as many stones as he could find. He didn't bother wasting time.

He did this towards the afternoon, and by now he gathered supplies and large gray stone bricks. He drew up his own blue prints and followed each step. By now he had nine large stone bricks laid out horizontally. His heavy lifting of the stones made him sweat. He began to pant.

"Ugh, I haven't done this much lifting in so long," he said. "I'm not sure if I'm starting to get out of shape or just getting a bit too old to be moving so fast." He glanced over at the pile of stones he gathered and sighed.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this. This is too much for one person to handle. I ought to just leave this go. So much for all the work I just did."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." said a female voice. It caught Knuckles off guard as he quickly turned around to see who it was. He spotted a red echidna wearing a black armored battle suit almost similar to Shade's. She was walking straight towards him with a sly smile on her face.

"I admire your spirit old man, but surely you aren't _that_ weak." She said. She was now standing in front of Knuckles. She had blue eyes and wore what seemed to look like a large black headband, only it was made of metal and possessed a chesire silver symbol, almost the same replica as the one on Knuckles' fur.

"You're...an echidna..." Knuckles said. He was in shock. Other than Tikal, he had never met a female echidna.

"Aren't you observent?" She asked sarcastically. "Did you know that big ball of fire in the sky is called the sun? And those green stringy plants sprouting from the ground is called grass? Or that the stuff we breathe in is called air?" Her sarcasm easily irritated Knuckles.

"Hey!" he yelled. "I don't need you walking on over here to make fun of me! Who are you anyway?!" She didn't hesistate to lay on top of the stone bricks Knuckles had laid out and put her arms behind her head as she easily just made herself at home.

"I'm someone you're gonna know," she said as she closed her eyes. "Just not right now." Knuckles was confused.

"What?" He asked. "I don't recall us ever meeting. I've never seen you before in my life." The girl opened one eye.

"That's because we haven't met yet." Her words only confused Knuckles some more, but he didn't consider wasting time trying to figure out what they mean.

"What are you trying to do?" He asked angrily. "Are you trying to confuse me or something? You don't even know me!" The girl sat up and looked at him.

"You wanna bet old man?" She asked. Knuckles held up a fist.

"Stop calling me that! Do you know who you're dealing with?!" She laughed and held up her fists. They were shaped exactly like Knuckles's, but instead of gloves, they were covered in armor.

"I do in fact," she said. "But I'm afraid it's _you_ that doesn't know who you're dealing with...Knuckles." Knuckles's eyes widened as he stood in his fighting stance.

"How...did you know my name?" He grew angry and raised his fists again. "Quit messing around! You don't know what I'm capable of!" The girl gave a sly smile again.

"You don't know what I'm capable of ether." She looked at his fists. "What are you gonna do old man? You wouldn't hit me."

"I won't?!" Knuckles challenged. "Try me!"

"Hit me with your best shot then. I'm right here for ya!"

Without hesitation, Knuckles threw the first punch, but the girl easily dodged. He threw another punch, to which she caught his fist in her right hand and threw him into the stone bricks.

"You sure you wanna fight me Knucklehead? I don't wanna break those weak bones of yours." She teased.

"I am NOT weak!" Knuckles yelled and charged right towards her throwing punches left to right. She dodged all of them, and when she had the chance, she threw punches of her own to which knocked Knuckles straight to the ground.

"Agh! What the hell?! What's with the iron fists?!" He asked as he put his hands to his ribs. "I think you broke something. That was completely unecessary."

"Me hitting you was unecessary?" she asked. "I warned you. I told you that you didn't know who I am or what I'm capable of. It's not like I wanted to fight an old fart like you. I'm not _that_ mean." The more she mocked him the more Knuckles's anger grew. As she started to laugh, he didn't hesitate to hit her in the stomach as well as the face. The thorns on his fist scratched her cheek.

"Agh!" She rubbed her cheek. "That was a cheap shot. You're gonna pay for that!" Once again, the two battled it out. Her iron fists against Knuckles could easily break every bone in his body, but as Knuckles could tell by the way she was punching, she was trying to hit him lightly.

_"There's no way she's serious right now_," he thought. _"Anyone with iron fists could not attempt to hit lightly as she is. Her first punch to my ribs was harder than what she's doing now. Why is she trying to go easy on me for?"_

When Knuckles attempted to uppercut her, he instantly missed to which the girl took advantage.

"Wide open!" The girl speared him to the ground and held her iron fist to Knuckles's face. She was smiling again.

"Who are you?" He asked as he panted for air. The girl grinned.

"The name's Phoenix," she said. "Glad you gave me such a warm welcome, but I'm afraid we extended our meeting a bit too long." She stood up and lent Knuckles a hand. "Now get your lazy bones up. We got things to do."

"Whoa wait a second! Hold on! What do you mean we?! I don't even know you!" Knuckles yelled. Phoenix rolled her eyes. "You expect me to just tag along someplace with a complete stranger? I've only known you for ten minutes! Based on the way you treated me I'm not even close to being convinced I can trust you!"

"You can trust me," she said. "I have my reasons."

"Save them! I'm out of here!" Knuckles turned around and walked away. Phoenix shook her head.

"Ugh, he clearly isn't the brains of us that's for sure," she said to herself. She stared at him. "I guess you don't want to see the rest of us do you?" she asked him. "I know where your family is." That was enough to make Knuckles stop in his tracks and turn around.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Your family? I know where they are. I can take you to them." The look on Knuckles's face indicated that he wasn't buying her story.

"What?" she asked. "You really didn't think the entire echidna race was really wiped out did you?"

"I...uh..." Knuckles was at a loss of words. "There's really more of us?" He asked. "Where are they?" Phoenix had on a sly smile again.

"If you come along I'll show you." she said. Knuckles nodded and ran towards her. They began walking.

"So...is that where you came from?" he asked. Phoenix hesistated.

"You can say that."

"This better not be some kind of trick Phoenix." Knuckles told her. "This is something serious. This is about my family. I'm trusting you. Don't make me regret it." Phoenix looked at him.

"Jeez can't you give me just a tad bit of credit? If you were truly the only one left then I would cease to exist wouldn't I?"

"Yeah but you still haven't told me entirely who you are or where you came from. You're pretty shady, but I'm going to give you a chance if it means finding my family." Phoenix laughed and ran off.

"How do you know you haven't found one of them already?" She said as she ran into the woods. Knuckles chased after her.

"What are you talking about? Come back here!" He yelled. He tried keeping up with her in the woods, but the plants and trees made it hard to see her clearly. He began to think to himself as he continued to run and dodge plants and branches that blocked his path..

_"What does she mean by that? Is she just trying to mess with me or something? Who is this girl, and where did she come from?"_


	16. Chapter 16

I appreciate the reviews everyone! I ask for reviews because it lets me know that I am doing something right. Haha. I'm so glad you all are enjoying it so far because there is lots more to come. :)

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Location: Station Square

Year: 2014

Sonic and Chase has been walking down the streets of the city. They were talking about their interests, enjoying chilli dogs, and debated if combat boots were better than sneakers.

"No way," Sonic said. He was holding a half eaten chilli dog in his hand. "Sneakers are light. You can actually run in them." Chase rolled his eyes as he took the last bite of his chilli dog.

"If I wore sneakers I would feel like they'd fall off." He said.

"That's what a buckle is for genius," Sonic said jokingly. Chase shook his head.

"I prefer boots because I feel like they will stay on. Plus they look a lot better than your running shoes." Chase said pointing to Sonic's shoes. Sonic gave him a little shove to the shoulder.

"Whatever you wanna believe kid," he said. They're conversation stopped when they spotted crime scene tape by a jewelry store just up ahead. Police cars were speeding by as they sound off their sirens.

"That doesn't look good." Chase said. Sonic nodded.

"We better go check it out." The two hedgehogs rushed on over to the scene. When they reached the entrance to the store, they were shocked by the amount of damage it had. They saw a clerk practically shaking in fear talking to the police.

"What happened?" Sonic asked as he walked over to them. An officer turned to him.

"There was a robbery," the officer stated. "The thing is, is that whoever it was only stole a rare item. It was a purple emerald." They looked at the shattered glass from the showcases. "They didn't steal anything else, at least from what we checked."

"Is there a security camera that might have caught the thief?" Sonic asked. The officer sighed and put his hands on his hips.

"There were security cameras, however they failed to record anything when we discovered that they had been disconnected around the time of the robbery. From what was already recorded, this occured about five thirty this morning. That was when the cameras got cut." The officer looked at the shattered showcases.

"We had someone come in and try to find any fingerprints or objects left behind, but other than the shattered glass the scene was practically wiped clean. Right now we have no leads or even witnesses." Sonic looked down.

"There's gotta be some way to find this person." Sonic said. "I have a general idea that this was Eggman's doing, but if it was him there had to be some form of his DNA hiding around in here somewhere. He couldn't escape a scene without leaving fingerprints or hair for that matter." Sonic looked up at the officer. "We'll keep a look out around town for anything suspicious." The officer nodded.

"We will too," he said. "If they were able to escape the scene, we are almost 100% sure that they will do it again. We have alerted all jewelry shops in the area. Thanks for assisting us Sonic the Hedgehog."

"No problem," Sonic said, and then turned to Chase as they made their exit out of the store.

"Purple emerald?" Chase asked. "That sounds like a chaos emerald."

"It is a chaos emerald," Sonic told him. "But if it wasn't Eggman, who else could it be? The only person I could think of to do this is Rouge, but Rouge works with the government now. There's no way they would let her get off freely for this." Sonic looked down at his feet as he continued to think. "And Rouge wouldn't just go after one piece of jewelry and not the others."

"If it's not Dr Eggman and it's not Rouge, then who else could it be?" Chase asked him.

"I don't know," Sonic said. "But we're gonna find out. Someone is after the chaos emeralds, and we need to figure out who and why." The two hedgehogs ran off. They were heading towards Tails's workshop. Sonic knew that with Tails's help they could catch the culprit.

Location: Deep Woods

Year: 2014

It was getting dark out at this time, but that didn't stop Silver from walking in the wooded area. He had been on a trail as he made his way towards the direction of the city.

"I can feel them," he said. "They are close. They have to be in that city." He carelessly stepped on twigs and leaves. He didn't let the thought that something might be out there bother him, but he immediately stopped when he heard the sound of someone groaning.

"What?" He looked around. It was dark in the woods and it was hard to track where he heard certain noises. "Whose there? Hello?" There wasn't any response. He kept quiet as he tried to listen to the groans again. He managed to get a general idea of where it was coming from. He walked as quietly as he could, this time avoiding the twigs and leaves to prevent signaling off any sounds for whomever was nearby.

"Mmmmmmmm..."

Silver stopped when he heard the groan again. He let his glowing gloves light the path, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw a trail of blood.

"What..." he said under his breath. He looked around, unsure if to ask if anyone was there or not. He decided to follow the trail, and the blood led him to see where the source of it was coming from. He gasped as he rushed over to the victim whom had been leaning against a tree.

It was Shadow.


	17. Chapter 17

This scene was also one of my favorites to write. I know it's short, but I feel like it was best to break it up into separate parts. Enjoy. :p

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"Hey! Are you okay?!" Silver asked when he got to him. Shadow coughed. His gloves were ripped up as if he were in a heavy fight. His sneakers were covered with dirt and some of his own blood. He had open wounds on his arms and one on his stomach. There had also been a scratch on his face.

He managed to open his eyes.

"Help...me..." He said softly. He had his hand covering his stomach.

"I will," Silver said. "Can you get up? Do want to stay put for a few minutes?" Shadow shook his head, to which Silver said "Alright," and carefully helped him to his feet. He put Shadow's arm around him as he helped him stand.

"Who did this to you?" Silver asked. Shadow managed to open his right eye halfway.

"It happened...so quick..." He said. "I remember...just...walking...being on my way to...Station Square...and then suddenly...I was attacked..." He had trouble speaking loudly, and he couldn't manage to stop coughing for very long.

"Was it just a forest creature?" Silver asked him. Shadow shook his head.

"They wanted...my chaos emerald..." He said. "I tried to...stop them...but when I went to attack...all of a sudden...they took out a weapon...and slammed me into a tree..."

"Well don't you worry," Silver said. "I'm gonna get you to hospitol. I was on my way to the city too. My name is Silver." Shadow looked at him.

"No...need for...introductions..." He told him. "I remember...who you are..." Silver looked at him. The last time they met was during their battle against Solaris, but once the flame was blown out and the past was changed, nobody was supposed to remember who he, Blaze, and Iblis were.

"You mean you remember?" Silver asked. "But how can that be?"

"I never forget," Shadow replied. "My past...and the person that...did this to me...may seem blurry...but I can't...forget the...incidents of what could have been..." Silver didn't know what to say, but he knew that Shadow was the type of person to assist him.

"You're here...for that kid...aren't you?" Shadow asked.

"I don't understand," Silver told him. "That hasn't even happened yet. How do you know all of this?" Shadow managed to smile.

"I can't say...I can see everything...but my life is eternal...and with the power of...the chaos emeralds...I discovered the ability...to see certain events...within time..."

"Impressive," Silver said. They managed to get out of the woods. The city was in sight as they only needed to go another half a mile through a grassy field.

"There's no way you can make it this long," Silver said. "Hang on. I'm taking you for a lift." Silver levitated in the air and held Shadow as tight as he could as he flew steadily over the field and the buildings.

"There's an emergency room...down there..." Shadow said as he pointed at one of the buildings. They eventually landed and Silver walked him into the Emergency Room.

"Help guys! My friend needs help!" Silver shouted, and immediately doctors rushed over with a stretcher. Silver lifted Shadow on top of it and laid him down carefully.

"What have we got here?" One of the doctors asked.

"He was attacked by someone in the woods," Silver said."He needs medical attention immediately. I don't know how long he's been out there."

"We need to clean him off and stitch up these wounds," Another doctor said. "By the looks of it he's suffered a lot of blood loss. Let's move him." The doctors pushed the stretcher out of the office and immediately got to work. Silver watched as the bleeding hedgehog was taken away. He had never seen anyone beaten up as bad as Shadow was.

_"Don't worry Shadow,"_ Silver said to himself. _"You're gonna be okay. We'll find out who did this to you, just hang in there..."_

* * *

I figured since Shadow is the ultimate lifeform, why not give him a special ability to remember events that no longer take place? He carries around that green chaos emerald all the time for SOME reason right? Why not add onto his character?

As for the scene, I wonder who did this to him? Lol no just kidding. I know who it was. :p


	18. Chapter 18

It's unfair of me to post something so small, so here is another chapter for the day. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks to all that have sent them in. :3

* * *

A few hours later, the doctors called Silver into the room where Shadow was kept. Shadow was wrapped heavily in gauze in some places. The sight saddened Silver, but he knew Shadow was capable of handling it.

"We had to stitch him up in some places," the doctor explained. "But he responded very well to the treatment and he'll be fine. He may be here for a couple of days. We don't want to risk him getting anymore hurt than he already is."

"Thank you," Silver said to her, and then walked over to Shadow's bed. Shadow opened an eye. He had his hand over his stomach still.

"You okay?" Silver asked him. Shadow let out a deep breath.

"Yeah," he said. "Just hurts a lot." Silver sat on the bed beside him. He remembered Shadow holding his stomach before, and seeing as though he was wrapped up heavily there, he didn't hesitate to ask questions.

"Your stomach hurt?" He asked. Shadow nodded.

"That's where I got most of the stitches," he said. "There were several wounds in the shape of a circle." He put a wet rag over his eyes. "My memory is rough, but based on what I still DO remember from the incident was that it looked like some sort of spiked hammer." He sighed.

"Well the good news is that you're okay," Silver told him. "It's a good thing I found you." Shadow let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah. Thanks for your help."

"What were you doing out there anyway? Why do you stay in the woods every night?" Silver remembered from the incident that took place before the explosion at Base 0104 that Shadow had been lurking in the woods. Shadow sighed.

"I stay there for two reasons," he said.

"What's that?"

"I don't have any where else to go," Shadow explained, but lifted the rag up and stared at the ceiling.

"What's the second reason?" Silver asked. Shadow hesitated.

"You'll probably think I'm foolish if I tell you," he said. Silver shook his head.

"Tell me. I wont judge." Shadow looked at him.

"Well," he said. "A few months ago when I found my chaos emerald, I had a vision. It was pretty quick, but I remember seeing myself in those woods, and I saw this glowing light coming towards me. It reminded me of an angel." Shadow looked back up at the ceiling.

"I never left those woods because I was determined to find out what that glowing light was and where it came from. Every day I expect to see that glowing light, because although I saw it in a vision, I didn't quite know when it would happen. So instead, I stayed in those woods every night, waiting to see that glow."

"I don't know what to say," Silver replied. Shadow shook his head.

"It's alright," he said. "Maybe I'm only imagining it. I don't know what's real anymore." Silver thought for a moment before looking at him.

"I'm confused," he said. "If you can see visions of the future, how did you not predict your attack?" Shadow looked at him.

"I'm not God," he stated. "I can see certain visions but I can't predict everything. I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, but I can't even recall everything that happened in my own past. These visions I get probably work the same way. Maybe they're a figment of my imagination or maybe they are actually going to happen. I only recently started seeing these things, and I can only see them whenever I am in possession of a chaos emerald. And it's not like they're very clear either. One thing's for sure, I haven't forgotten a single one." Shadow sighed. "That must be _some_ sign that my memory is getting a little better." Silver rubbed Shadow's leg lightly.

"Well," he said. "Don't worry about it now. The only thing that matters is that you're okay. Don't let your visions stress you out. You need to relax." Shadow sighed as he put the rag over his eyes again.

"I don't know what relax means. I never seem to go a minute without something happening." Silver stood up and looked around.

"Well you're gonna have to learn now. I'll make sure these doctors won't let you out of their sight. You're injured and you're going to relax whether you like it or not. You're stubborness to do whatever you want isn't going to work this time."

"Don't sweet talk me," Shadow replied. Silver smiled. Shadow always took an insult as a compliment regardless if it was harsh or not. He never got offended over anything, that being one of the reasons Silver admired him as a friend.

He let Shadow rest and decided to leave the hospitol. He had already lost a few hours of time due to the incident, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from finding Blaze and Chase.

* * *

Location: Tails's workshop

Year: 2014

Sonic went to Tails's workshop on his own as he remembered that revealing Chase to his friend could be risky and impact the future. Before Sonic arrived there, he had allowed Chase to stay hidden in a hotel suite in downtown Station Square. It was after that when Sonic made it to the workshop.

But the scene was brutal.

When Sonic arrived, he found the workshop to be heavily damaged. There was a large hole in the wall as if a wrecking ball had crashed into it, and most of Tails's machines were broken. He found his twin tailed fox friend close to tears as he collected shattered pieces of the X Tornado.

"Tails what happened?!" Sonic asked as he rushed over. "Are you okay?" Tails looked at him. He tried his hardest not to cry, but he failed to fight it as his eyes grew watery.

"I just went out to go buy some spare parts to the X Tornado," he explained. "And when I got back, I saw all of this. Someone broke into my workshop, and they also stole the chaos emerald I was holding for you."

"No way," Sonic said in disbelief. "There was a robbery at a jewelry store just earlier today. A chaos emerald was stolen there too." Tails began to cry.

"Everything I've worked so hard on is ruined Sonic!" He yelled as he wrapped his arms around the blue hedgehog. "All of that hard work for nothing! How could anyone be so cruel?! I just don't understand!"

"Hey c'mon Tails, pull yourself together buddy. It's gonna be okay." Sonic told him. "I can help you build another Tornado, and we can even rebuild the workshop too." Tails pulled away and shook his head.

"You make it sound so easy Sonic," he said as wiped his eyes. "It's going to take some time to rebuild everything, even with some help. It's not just my machines and the X Tornado ether. My computer is ruined and none of what was on there could be recovered. Everything is lost." He then became angry. "I bet this was all Eggman's doing!"

"Hey calm down now," Sonic said. "We don't know that. The robbery in Station Square showed no sign of any human DNA. They said they wiped the whole area clean. I'm not saying this wasn't Eggman's doing at all, but if it is, he can't be acting alone. There's something strange going on here, and we need to find out what it is."

"Well what can we do? It's not like I have the X Tornado anymore, so we can't go very far to find out where he's hiding at. He can be anywhere."

"You're right," Sonic said. "The best way to figure out whose behind all of this is to lure them in, meaning we need a chaos emerald as bait."

"But how are we going to find one? Whoever broke into my workshop managed to steal the only one I had. I can't track any down, especially since all of my planes are destroyed." Sonic smiled.

"That's never stopped us before!" He said. "Looks like we have to find those chaos emeralds the old fashioned way. You up for a scavenger hunt?" Tails shook his head.

"We can go tomorrow," he replied. "I think I'm going to stay here and clean things up a bit. I kinda want to be alone for the night." Sonic crossed his arms.

"But what if that robber comes back? Are you sure you really wanna risk staying here? You might get hurt." Tails didn't look at him. He just grabbed a broom and started sweeping.

"I can handle myself," he said. "It's just for one night. And it's not like I have anything left of value anyway."

"You sure?" Sonic asked. Tails nodded. Sonic then let out a sigh and turned around. "Alright then. Just be careful. I'll come see you first thing in the morning."

"Bye Sonic." With that, Sonic ran off in the direction of the city. He was headed straight to the suite to which Chase was staying at.

Chase was sitting on a couch flipping through channels on the TV. Sonic surprised him when he barged in through the door.

"Sonic what happened?" he asked.

"There's been another robbery," Sonic told him. "Tails's workshop is practically destroyed. It has to be the same person that robbed that jewelry store downtown, because they took the chaos emerald Tails had."

"Are you serious?" Chase asked. Sonic nodded.

"We gotta find out who this is. They can be really dangerous. Tails and I are going to start looking for a chaos emerald tomorrow. We're going to try and lure in the culprit. Will you be okay on your own?" Chase stood up and sighed.

"Yeah I'll be fine," he said. "Besides I have to go find Blaze. We have our own missions we need to take care of."

"Alright then," Sonic said as he walked out of the room. "Goodnight then buddy." Chase laid down and shut off the TV. He was physically tired, but his mind was very much awake.

He closed his eyes as he thought about the incident at Eggman's base and how he, Blaze, and Silver got separated when they arrived in this point in time. Although the thought of the depressing incident at Eggman's base bothered him, there was one thought that stood out to him: Where was Amy?


	19. Chapter 19

So many questions you guys must have. Oh but don't worry, this part will make you have even more questions. XD

Lets resume where we left off with our two echidna friends. :D

* * *

Location: Ruined Temple

Year: 2014

Knuckles managed to follow Phoenix up until he found himself standing in front of the Temple. Phoenix was inside, but Knuckles was caught off guard. He had never seen the temple before, but he felt as if he was almost fated to find it.

"This place," he said. "Why does it seem so...familiar?" He walked inside and looked around. It was dark at first, but once he arrived near the pool of gems, he found Phoenix standing by the wall. He groaned.

"Don't run off like that again," He told her. "What are we doing here?" He noticed the writings on the wall. "What's that?" Phoenix placed her hand on the wall as if she were searching for a trigger.

"These are hyrogliphics slow poke," she said. "I feel an airway coming from the cracks. I think there's another room behind this." It was then Knuckles got in his fighting stance.

"So we'll knock it down," he said, but when he punched the wall, not even a scratch was made. He did this for a couple seconds before looking at Phoenix, whom had been giving Knuckles a complete dead face.

"Well what are you standing there for?" He asked her. "You have iron fists. Maybe we both can knock it down."

"You really don't think do you?" She asked and then pointed at the hyrogliphics. "Can't you read?" Knuckles looked at them as he tried to make out their meanings.

"These seem so ancient," he said. "I don't think I can recall all of what it says." He noticed a specific line of hyrogliphics towards the bottom of the wall and kneeled down to see if he could read them.

"The Chosen One whom can unleash the power of the chaos will become the savior." Knuckles read it over again in his head before speaking to Phoenix. "What does that even mean?" He looked over and saw an engravement in the wall in the shape of a gem.

"That must be the key to opening the door," he said. "But what does this mean by unleashing the power of the chaos?"

"Try a chaos emerald perhaps?" Phoenix suggested. They turned to look at the pool of gems. "Surely there's got to be one lying around in here somewhere."

"But would a chaos emerald fit that engraving?" Knuckles studied the gem shaped hole in the wall. "Hmm...it looks like it'd be big enough." He stood up and looked at the pool again. "But where do we even start looking?" Phoenix looked at him.

"Well aren't you a treasure hunter?" She asked him. "This should be easy for you. I mean...I'm sure you've tracked down chaos emeralds before haven't you?" Knuckles glared at her.

"Yeah maybe I have," he told her. "How did you know that?" Phoenix sighed and pushed him into the pool of gems.

"Nevermind that now! Find an emerald first and ask questions later! We need to get through this door ya big lug, so hurry up!"

"Well aren't you going to at least help me out?" Knuckles asked. "And besides how do we know if we even find an emerald that it'll unlock the door? It said only the Chosen One could get it to work."

"Maybe _you're_ the Chosen One. Has that thought occured to you yet or are you really just that slow?" Knuckles groaned.

"You keep it up and I'll just leave you to go and do this yourself!" He yelled. "I don't see why you get to just stand there and push me around and act like you're superior than I am, which by the way you're not!" Phoenix didn't pay any mind to him.

"Less talking, more hunting Knucklehead. We don't have all day. Just find the emerald and we'll figure this out." Knuckles groaned, but began to look around. There were so many different types of gems around, and he even remembered the ones that were outside.

"How can I figure out which one is the chaos emerald?" He asked. "It's hard to spot one in this mess. They all look the same."

"A chaos emerald is much more valuable in both beauty and power. You should be able to sense a powerful source since you've guarded the Master Emerald all this time. Just follow your gut." After some digging in the pool of gems, Knuckles decided to climb out.

"I don't think there's a chaos emerald in there," he said. "There's just hundreds of useless gemstones and gold." He clearly didn't see any value in regular gems the way other people did. He looked around some more and climbed the walls to get a better view. He did this for a few minutes before heading towards the direction in which he came in.

"It's been a while since I've done any treasure hunting," he said. "Maybe I just lost my touch." He felt his foot hit something on the ground and looked down. It was the bag Rouge had thrown.

"What's this?" He picked up the bag and took out the gems one by one. He randomly threw the regular gems up until a yellow chaos emerald fell out.

"I found it," he said, and turned around and ran back over to Phoenix.

"Well it's about time," she said to him. "Do you think it's gonna work?" Knuckles studied the engraving.

"I'm not sure," he told her. "But we'll just have to see for ourselves." He carefully placed the emerald into the engraving, and the glow of the emerald glew brighter. The hyrogliphics glew on the wall, and the wall then lifted from the ground. They walked inside and tried to observe it. The inside looked dark, but after squinting, they were able to see a whole other nation.

"What is this?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. Phoenix was also blown away by the scenery.

"It's like we entered a whole other world..." she said. Knuckles looked at her. He was confused.

"You led me here," he said to her. "How did you not know what this place looked like?" Phoenix hesistated and walked away. Knuckles followed, awaiting her answer.

"I've heard about it in a story when I was a little girl," she told him. "It was a story about a warrior that was destined to take the place of the leader of a thousand citizens." She looked at him. "I can't recall the ending though." Knuckles listened, but he was more focused on the mystery of this girl.

"Who are you Phoenix?" He asked. "If you didn't come from here then you certainly came from some place else. Why did you bring me here? And why are you so determined to help me?" Phoenix stayed silent for a few seconds.

"I have my reasons," she told him. "I'm just a good person trying to help out."

"I feel like there is more to this than what you are saying," Knuckles said, becoming greatly agitated. "Why won't you tell me everything? What are you afraid of?"

"Shhhh!" Phoenix said as she stood quietly.

"No! I want answers! What are you-" Before Knuckles could say another word, Phoenix grabbed him and put her hand over his mouth. Knuckles continued to make noise, to which Phoenix violently shook him.

"I said shut up," she said quietly. "Listen." Knuckles pushed her hand off of him and stayed quiet. The sounds of chao singing filled the air. They looked around to locate the noise, and Phoenix nudged Knuckles's shoulder and pointed towards the direction in which it was coming from. There was a narrow trail through the trees, and the two followed closely together as they listened to the singing. They stopped as soon as the singing stopped.

"What happened?" Knuckles asked quietly. "They stopped singing." It was at that moment they heard rustling in the leaves and trees coming from all around them. After a few seconds, light blue and yellow chao popped out from the plants and stared at the two echidnas. They were silent.

One chao was brave enough to fly towards them and observe them, and once it looked in Knuckles's eyes, the chao became cheerful and signaled the others that they were okay. All of the chao surrounded them, but Knuckles received more of the attention, to which made Phoenix giggle.

"They must really like you," she teased. Knuckles could hardly find words to speak his own thoughts.

"Why are they so attracted to me for?" He asked. He became slightly bothered by all of the chao touching him. One sat on his head, two pulled on his arm, one hugged his leg, and the rest just invaded what was left of his personal space. The chao that was brave enough to go forward tried to speak.

"Chao chao chao chao chao chao chao!"

"I..." Knuckles slightly laughed. "I don't know what you're saying little guy. I can't understand you." The chao pointed in another direction and flew that way. The rest of the chao followed.

"I think they want us to follow them," Phoenix said, and so they did. They walked deeper and deeper through the trees, and they witnessed a few glowing plants that grew along the path. It was a very astonishing and beautiful sight of nature.

"What is this place?" Knuckles asked.

"I don't know," Phoenix replied. Blue glowing particles were floating in the air the deeper they walked through the trees of the forest. "I feel a strong power close by though. Can you feel that?"

"Yeah I do." After a few minutes, they found themselves at the end of the forest, and the leading chao pointed at a stone building just up ahead.

"The chao led us here for a reason," Phoenix said. "Maybe they want us to go into that shrine." Knuckles looked at her.

"I'm not opposed to it," he said. "But do you think it's safe? I can sense something is there, but I can't make out if it is good or bad." Phoenix led the way.

"There's only one way to find out." She looked at him. "You'll protect me right?" Knuckles stood close to her side as they headed towards the shrine.

"Don't worry," he said. "I got your back." His reassurance brought a smile and sense of safety to Phoenix. They started out rough, but now they were getting used to being around each other.

They walked inside of the shrine, but they stopped suddenly when they saw a black mass moving. Knuckles stood in front of Phoenix.

"Stay back," he told her, but Phoenix started laughing and ran towards it. "Wait Phoenix! I said stay back! You don't know what that thing is!"

"Sure she does," said a voice. It was coming from the figure. "And you do too." The figure walked in the other direction, but Knuckles ran after it.

"Come back here! Who are you?!" He asked. The shrine grew lighter as he followed the figure, and when he stopped, he saw a dark tanish echidna stand before him, Phoenix laughing and standing by his side. His figure appeared familiar, but he never saw him before.

"You never witnessed me in this form," the echidna said. "But we have met before Knuckles. Although our meeting went rather sour, I assure you that all is different. I am glad my chao led you here, as we have much to talk about."

"Okay," Knuckles said. "But I still want to know who you are." The echidna let out a small laugh.

"Pardon my rudeness," he said, and then looked up at Knuckles. "I am Chaos."


	20. Chapter 20

Here is my favorite part of Knuckles's story. This is the BIG revalation of both his past AND his destiny. I hope you guys enjoy! :)

* * *

"Chaos?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. "I don't understand. Weren't you just a liquid creature?" Chaos smiled.

"You may want to find a seat Knuckles," he said. "We have a lot to discuss." Knuckles then pulled up a stool and did as Chaos asked.

"Alright Chaos," he said. "Talk."

"Well to start off Knuckles," he began. "You were right. I was a liquid creature. But you see, I wasn't always that way, as my original form so many years ago was just a tiny chao.

We are quite similar Knuckles, in more ways than you think. Your destiny is to guard the Master Emerald, but that was once my mission too. The second I came into contact with the Master Emerald, I turned into a creature composed entirely out of chaos and water. There was no turning back for me, so I used my gift to bring fresh water to all the chao as well as protect my fellow friends.

Of course, such a great gift, makes you a great target. Chief Pachacamac wanted to cease the power of the chaos emeralds I guarded. The stubborn old fool. He did not have any concern for his daughter or even the chao that made an attempt to warn him. I am a family man Knuckles. I possess a great deal of power, but that in no way means I won't use it to get revenge.

Awakened by Dr. Eggman, I vowed to follow his orders, but that was only because I knew I would get back my chaos emeralds in the process. As you may recall, once I gained those emeralds, I absorbed their energy and brought rage upon the world. I mean, I was trapped inside of that Master Emerald every day for thousands of years. How could someone stay calm after just losing their family, and not be able to have the power to do anything to help them? I needed an outlet.

But it was wrong of me to take it out on innocent people. Once Sonic defeated me and I took my form, I then realized that I was no different from Pachacamac. Tikal then returned with the rest of the chao I had protected, and together we disappeared, hoping to relocate ourselves into a better place.

But during the process, this was where we ended up, and it is also why I took the form of an echidna. We had no idea why, or how it happened. You see Knuckles, this place doesn't exist in the real world. This is merely just another dimension you were destined to find. It has a few similarities to Earth as we have trees, air, water, and just about anything regarding nature, but the only difference between Earth and here is that time flows slower than it does in the real world. Also, the longer you stay here, the more your life is extended by a few extra years. Time flows here slowly, but we all still move at the same speed as everyone in the real world.

We didn't think much of it. We were able to stay young and live in a beautiful place in peace right? That was until we found Pachacamac and his men..."

"What?" Knuckles asked in disbelief. "But I thought you killed them!"

"Believe me," Chaos said. "I originally thought the same thing. But it turns out, I sent them into another dimension and brought them here. That is also why I remain in hiding here, along with the Princess." Chaos motioned Knuckles to follow him to a glass seal. Tikal was laying inside of it on a white mattress. She was in a deep sleep.

"That's...that girl..." Knuckles said as he thought back to the past. "She was the one that guided me." Chaos nodded.

"She has the heart of an angel," he said. "But you only remember her because she tried to guide you to stop me. You do not remember anything else. She wanted it that way, and it was for the best." Knuckles looked at him.

"What do you mean 'anything else'?" He asked. "What else was I supposed to know?" Chaos smiled.

"I suppose if there is any hope for us," Chaos said. "It would be best to grant you back your memory." He looked at Knuckles.

"You lived a past life, but your destiny wasn't the Master Emerald. You were part of the tribe years before Pachacamac wanted me. Your original destiny was to protect Tikal from harm. You were one of her top guardians, and you were surely her favorite. You were even the favorite of her Grandmother before she passed away.

But Pachacamac continued to be a stubborn old fool, charging into battle without second thoughts. I understood he meant well, but never to this day do I remember any being that was as foolish and stubborn as the chief. I'd be surprised if he knew how to make ice." Chaos let out a small chuckle.

"He's a stupid one. He came into battle with the wrong people and that led to most of your race being wiped out. From what Tikal told me, you were the only one of her guardians that remained, but you were still severly hurt. Using the power from the emeralds, she sealed you into the present to be born again, but you would have no memory of her or what happened. You were the top guardian. Should Pachacamac not have been able to take command of the tribe, Tikal would appoint you to the task. If there came a time when she would need to call out to you, she wouldn't hesisitate to do the job.

That was when Pachacamac tried to cease the emeralds, but we both already went through that part. The visions she gave you were to guide you through the incident and to stop me from causing complete destruction upon the world. She knew you wouldn't remember, and she avoided any conversation that would lead you to remember what happened, being why she would run off all the time." Knuckles looked down at her.

"But...why didn't she want me to remember?" He asked. His tone of voice changed as if he felt hurt.

"I would guess it would be because it was such a tradgedy that happened, she didn't think you'd miss what you didn't remember. And like I said, you were the top guardian. If there was one person she would be able to save, it was going to be you. Sealing you to another place in time to be born from the Master Emerald meant that should there be any need for a powerful leader, you would be the Chosen One." Chaos held a glowing ball of light in his hand.

"Don't take it from me," he said. "Let your own memory see what happened." The ball of light flew into Knuckles's head, and it was then everything came back to him.

* * *

Location: Mystic Ruins

Year: Unknown

Knuckles and Tikal were on their way back to the shrine after returning from a festival held by Tikal's grandmother. They were both laughing and talking about all of the things they did.

"You surely didn't think twice about eating all of those goods Knuckles," Tikal said giggling. Knuckles laughed as he stuffed a dumpling into his mouth. "And you're STILL eating!"

"Hey come on!" He said. "I didn't want to be rude and pass on your Grandmother's cooking."

"Yes but you could have saved some for the rest of the clan! How many of those did you even stuff down? I mean did you even _taste_ them?" Knuckles looked at her with a grin on his face.

"Yes, and they tasted delicious." He looked back at the festival. "As a matter of fact I should probably go and grab some more."

"Knuckles don't you dare!" Tikal said giggling, but Knuckles ran off laughing.

"Try and stop me then!"

"Knuckles!" She ran after him as they headed back towards the festival. She eventually caught up with Knuckles and pulled him back from the snack tables. They both were laughing.

"Must you stuff your face every chance you get?" She asked. "There is more to life than just food!"

"You mean like dancing?" It was then Knuckles put his hands on her waist and picked her up and spun her around in the air, and the two joined the rest of the echidnas as they danced to the music that was being played by the band. They ended up staying through the festival until the sky turned dark, and even then the party continued.

* * *

Location: Mystic Ruins

Year: Unknown

It was around two in the morning, and most of the tribe had been asleep, all except Tikal and Knuckles, whom had stayed up and took their usual long walks around the land. They were just returning from one of their hour long walks. They were nearing the shrine.

"I appreciate you willing to join me at this hour," Tikal said to him. "You must be tired." Knuckles shook his head.

"I'm fine," he told her, before stopping and taking her hand into his. "Besides, it's my job to protect you. I won't let you go anywhere unless somebody is there by your side. I don't want you to get hurt, and I'm sure your father wouldn't approve of that either." His words made Tikal smile, but the touching moment didn't last long when they heard a loud rumbling noise coming from a mile away. It was loud enough to awaken the entire tribe.

"What is that?" Knuckles asked as the two ran to a hilltop. They saw an entire race of echidnas lined up, and it was then they launched an attack on the tribe. A fireball was headed towards where Knuckles and Tikal stood.

"Let's go! Come on!" He said, and took her into his arms and ran off as fast as he could. Members of the tribe scattered, but Pachacamac and his warriors took their weapons and charged.

"It is the Nocturne Clan!" He said. "Those fools! How dare they launch an attack on my people! Kill them all!" Flames erupted all over as the attack led to a bloody battle. One of the Nocturne echidnas launched another fireball to which caused an explosion and Knuckles to drop Tikal. He was bleeding heavily and had numerous burns.

"No! Knuckles!" She rushed to his aid and held him in her arms. Her eyes flooded with tears. He managed to look up at her.

"Tikal..." He said faintly. "Run...

"No Knuckles..." she said sobbing. "Don't die on me please!" Knuckles put his hand on her cheek.

"Don't cry," he said. "It was...my job...to protect you...remember? This...was the risk...I was willing...to take...for you...I don't want you...to get hurt..." He groaned as the pain in his wound grew sharper from the large amount of blood he lost.

"You need to get out of here," he said. "Go...leave me..." But Tikal refused.

"No Knuckles," she said. "I will not let you die this way." She tried to pick him up in her arms and take him into the shrine where the emeralds were kept. The adrenaline gave her the strength to do it, and when she climbed the steps, she laid him down in front of the Master Emerald.

"Oh great chaos," she began. "Lend me your power. Grant me the power to save Knuckles and seal him into another point in time, for he will be our only hope for a new leader." The Master Emerald and the seven chaos emeralds began to glow. Knuckles also began to glow as he was being lifted into the air.

"He shall never remember what has happened here," she continued. "He will be born again, destined to protect the chaos and anyone left from the clan. He will become next in line for leader, and guide us in the right direction!" Knuckles then disappeared, and once Tikal ended her prayer, she ran off to safety.

* * *

Knuckles then remembered suddenly waking up on Angel Island. It was empty as it was today, and the emerald stood behind him intact and glowing as if it were never touched.

* * *

His flashbacks then came to an end and he looked down at Tikal and placed his hand over the glass coffin. For the first time, a tear fell from his eye.

"What happened to her now then?" He asked Chaos. "Is she dead?" Chaos shook his head.

"I put her into an eternal sleep," he said. "She is very much alive, but I put her to sleep to prevent her from reliving what happened should Pachacamac find us. It was a tough point in time for her. The last thing I would want to see happen is for her go through that again and maybe worse. Who knows what Pachacamac has in store for us both if he ever found us. That's why we hide here."

"But we can get out of here," Knuckles said. "We can take you guys out of here. You'll be safe with us." Chaos shook his head.

"You make it sound so easy," he said. "But if we just walk out of the void, we both would die on the spot. The only way to escape and stay alive is to escape through the power of the emeralds. Their power will allow us to keep the years we gained and keep us living in the present time."

"So until I find the chaos emeralds you're telling me I can't save you guys?" Knuckles asked. "We'll do it. I don't care how long it takes. I want to bring back my people."

"Yes, but what about Pachacamac? Those chaos emeralds are going to take all of the echidna race that remains here with you. Nobody is going to be left behind. If Pachacamac exists in the present time, history will only repreat itself, and this time the entire race would be wiped out for good." Chaos looked at Knuckles.

"This is why Tikal sealed you into the present. You are the Chosen One Knuckles. You even have the birthmark to prove it." He pointed at the white chesire symbol on Knuckles's chest.

"You are the one that can save us all. You must challenge Pachacamac for the position of Chief of the clan. Only you possess the abiliy and power to do it."

"But I can't do that alone," he said. "What about all of his men? Aren't you at least going to help me out?"

"I can only guide you to do so much," Chaos said. "But I wouldn't worry too much. You already have a sign of your success right in front of you." He looked at Phoenix.

"What?" Knuckles asked. Chaos then smiled at Knuckles.

"I can also see the possibilities yet to be chosen from the future," Chaos explained. "This is Princess Phoenix." Phoenix laughed.

"I told ya dad," she said. "You still had family." She pointed to the cheshire symbol on her black headband, to which was officially revealed as a different design for a crown.

"So...if Phoenix is my daughter, and she is a princess...that means..." Knuckles looked over Tikal. His cheeks slightly turned pink.

"Yes Knuckles," Chaos said. "The possibility in which Phoenix comes from determined that you not only succeeded in defeating Pachacamac, but you became King of the echidna race when you married Tikal. Now just because that is a possible future, it is up to you to make it happen. You must not make the wrong move or fail, otherwise we all will cease to exist. Revealing to you the future was a big risk, but I rather you know what could happen so you knew right away what the right actions for you to take were."

"Chaos was able to pull me out of an almost non-existing possibility so that I can travel back in time to guide you." Phoenix explained. "You wouldn't have been able to figure all of this out if someone didn't give you the right push. That, and Rouge stole the chaos emeralds over time, so even if you found the temple, there would be no way for you to unlock it."

"Unfortunately I don't have much power left," Chaos said. "I used whatever I had so I could bring Phoenix into another possibility to reason with Rouge and travel back in time to prevent herself from stealing." Knuckles groaned.

"That bat," he said. "She never changes." He looked down at Tikal and then back at Chaos.

"I'll do it," he said. "I will fight for my people and I will become Chief of the clan. I won't let you down Chaos." Chaos smiled.

"I have faith in you Knuckles," he said. "Please be careful. Only challenge him when you are ready." Knuckles nodded and walked out of the shrine with Phoenix.

"We're going to need those chaos emeralds," he said. "We have to turn back for now. I don't want to mess this up." Phoenix nodded.

"We better get going then," she said. "We don't want to waste anymore time."

"Right."

The two echidnas then ran off in the direction they came from. Knuckles's heart was pounding and his mind was overwhelmed with all of the news he found out, but he didn't stop to forget what Chaos told him. He continued to think it all over as inspiration and allowed it to bring him determination as King of the Echidna race.


End file.
